The action of the notch locus in Drosophila melanogaster. I. Effects of the notch8 deficiency on mitochondrial enzymes.

It is shown that the Notch8 deficiency in Drosophila melanogaster affects a number of enzyme activities localized in the mitochondria, such as NADH oxidase (activity of the complete respiratory chain), NADH dehydrogenase (the first step in the respiratory chain before transfer to ubiquinone), Succinate dehydrogenase and alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase. The experiments reported here do not exclude the possibility of involvement of other genes in the deficiency. The effect of duplications of the Notch locus on NADH oxidase and NADH dehydrogenase suggest that the locus determines the enzyme activities. The dosage effects of the Notch locus on activity suggest that this locus contains the structural genes for these enzymes.