Effect of cordycepin (3'-desoxyadenosine) on polytene chromosomes of Chironomus pallidivittatus salivary glands

Effects of DMSO on the structure and function of polytene chromosomes of Chironomus

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) controlled puff induction and repression (or non-induction) in larval polytene chromosomes of Chironomus tentans were studied for the case of the Balbiani rings (BR). A characteristic reaction pattern, involving BR 1, BR 2, and BR 3, all in salivary gland chromosome IV was found. In vivo exposure of 4th instar larvae (not prepupae) to 10%n DMSO at 18 degrees C first evokes an over-stimulation of BR 3 while DMSO-stimulation of puffing at BR 1 and BR 2 always follows that of BR 3. After removal of the drug, a rapid uniform collapse of all puffs occurs, thus more or less restoring the banding pattern of all previously decondensed chromosome segments. Recovery proceeds as BR's and other puffs reappear. By observing the restoration, one can locate the site from which a BR (puff) originates. BR 2, which is normally the most active non-ribosomal gene locus in untreated larvae, here serves as an example. As the sizes of BR 3, BR 1 and BR 2 change, so do the quantities of the transcriptional products in these gene loci (and vice versa), as estimated electron-microscopically in ultrathin sections and autoradiographically in squash preparations. In autoradiograms, the DMSO-stimulated BRs exhibit the most dense concentration of silver grains and therefore the highest rate of transcriptional activity. In DMSO-repressed BRs (and other puffs) the transcription of the locus specific genes is not completely shut off. In chromosomes from nuclei with high labelling intensities the repressed BRs (and other puffs) always exhibit a low level of 3H-uridine incorporation in vivo. The absence of cytologically visible BR (puff) formation therefore does not necessarily indicate complete transcriptional inactivity. Typically, before the stage of puff formation the 3H-uridine labelling first appears in the interband-like regions.

Effect of cycloheximide on RNA synthesis in Chironomus polytene chromosomes

Modifications in the synthesis of salivary gland RNA were induced by treatments with 10 microgram/ml cycloheximide (CHM) on 4th instar larvae of Chironomus pallidivitattus. After 3, 6 and 24 h CHM treatment, RNA was labeled "in vitro", by incubating the salivary glands in a medium containing H3-uridine. The electrophoretical analyses corresponding to the 3 and 6 h treatment showed a stimulation of the non-ribosomal components of the newly synthesized RNA, while preribosomal RNA synthesis appeared depressed. This fact was also confirmed at cytological level, since autoradiograms made after 3 h of CHM treatment showed a reduced H3-uridine label over the nucleolus and an increase of diffuse labeling over the chromosomes. Longer treatments (24 h) causes a considerable inhibition of the synthesis of all RNA species. The role played by protein synthesis inhibition in the aforementioned effects is discussed.--Some of the morphological implications of CHM treatment, such as modifications of the nucleolar structure (nucleolar segregation) are also reported. The use of a squash technique based on glutaraldehyde fixation of the salivary glands, considerably facilitates such studies.