Dissertation Research: Protein Variation and Structure-Function Relationships of the Metabolic Enzyme PGM of Drosophila

9902327酶磷酸葡萄糖变位酶（PGM）在果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的中心代谢途径的关键点的糖原代谢中起作用。在PGM基因座上已经发现了显著的蛋白质变异，但这种变异在自然种群中发挥作用的程度尚不清楚。本项目的目标是联合收割机结合果蝇PGM基因座DNA序列变异的研究和PGM变异的功能差异及其对代谢途径中通量的影响的研究。这项研究将筛选自然种群中已知的蛋白质变异，以测试地理分化。由于某些点可能对控制途径中的代谢通量具有更大的影响，因此认为这些点处的蛋白质变异代表了潜在的变异，选择可以根据这些变异来操作以调节途径中的通量。如果酶活性或PGM的稳定性变化确实导致糖原水平的可测量的差异，则这表明PGM基因座处的蛋白质变化代表了对控制途径中的通量有影响的变化。 如果蛋白质变异在不同种群之间有显著差异，这表明自然种群中该位点的变异模式受到自然选择的影响。

9902327The enzyme phosphoglucomutase (PGM) plays a role in glycogen metabolism at a key point in the central metabolic pathway in Drosophila melanogaster. Significant protein variation has already been found at the PGM locus, but to what extent this variation plays a role in natural populations is unknown. The goal of this project is to combine a study of DNA sequence variation at the PGM locus in Drosophila melanogaster with a study of the functional differences of PGM variation and their effect on flux in the metabolic pathway. This study will screen for known protein variation in natural populations to test for geographic differentiation. Differences in PGM enzymatic activity and stability and their effect on glycogen content will also be determined.Because certain points may have more influence on controlling metabolic flux in the pathway, it is believed that protein variation at these points represents potential variation upon which selection can operate to regulate flux in the pathway. If enzyme activity or stability variation for PGM does result in measurable differences in glycogen levels, this suggests that protein variation at the PGM locus represents variation that is influential in controlling flux in the pathway. If protein variation differs significantly across populations, this suggests that patterns of variation at this locus in natural populations are influenced by natural selection.