Developmental and biochemical differentiation of glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase isozymes in Mormoniella vitripennis (Hymenoptera:Pteromalidae)

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase isozyme variation in adult meliponids (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-3-PDH) isozymes were investigated in several bee and wasp species to verify if variations detected in G-3-PDH-2 isozymes are closely related to the age and activity of adult workers in the nest or hive of social species. In the solitary, the semisocial, and one social bee species, no phenotypic variations were detected for G-3-PDH-2 isozymes, and this was also the case for all wasp species investigated which were characterized as social. These results allow us to suggest that the variation detected in G-3-PDH-2 isozymes is a phenomenon closely related not only to adult age and activity in the hive, but also to a gradual acquisition of the ability to fly, which is not present in newly emerged worker meliponids in particular.

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-3-PDH; EC 1.1.1.8) variation in Brazilian stingless bees and in wasp species

In only 1 bee species (Tetragona clavipes) of 24 sampled in 145 colonies (0.69%) did we detect the presence of more than one allele for glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.8), an enzyme that is involved in flight. In 34 colonies containing 9 wasp species, 5 colonies of only 2 species (Polybia paulista and P. sericea) showed variation in larval G-3-PDH (14.7%). The small amount of variation observed for the G-3-PDH-1 locus in the bee and wasp species analyzed in the present study agrees with that reported for the G-3-PDH system in other insects.

Brain NADH and jumping behavior in the rat

The effects of either the reduced Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH) microinjected into the brain or amphetamine injected peritoneally on jumping behavior were observed in 68 rats. The enhanced jumps in the group with amphetamine are the greatest among the three experimental groups. The enhanced effect of NADH microinjected into the caudate nucleus is stronger than those of NADH in the frontal cortex. The effects of extra NADH in the frontal cortex on the jumps are dose-dependent. NADH concentrations in the brain of rats with amphetamine increased immediately after behavioral procedure. The increased concentrations in the brain from both extra and intra sources are related to the enhanced jumps of rats.