Water- and nutrient-dependent effects of dietary restriction on Drosophila lifespan (2009)
Ja, William W., Carvalho, Gil B., Zid, Brian M., Mak, Elizabeth M., Brummel, Ted, Benzer, Seymour
Dietary restriction (DR) is a widely conserved intervention leading to lifespan extension. Despite considerable effort, the mechanisms underlying DR remain poorly understood. In particular, it...
Zid, Brian M., Rogers, Aric N., Katewa, Subhash-D, Vargas, Misha A., Kolipinski, Marysia C., Lu, Tony Au, ...
Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species. To examine the mechanisms of lifespan extension upon DR, we assayed genome-wide translational changes in Drosophila. A number of nuclear...
Obesity-Blocking Neurons in Drosophila (2009)
Al-Anzi, Bader, Sapin, Viveca, Waters, Christopher, Zinn, Kai, Wyman, Robert J., Benzer, Seymour
In mammals, fat store levels are communicated by leptin and insulin signaling to brain centers that regulate food intake and metabolism. By using transgenic manipulation of neural activity, we report...
Liu, Ya-Lin, Lu, Wan-Chih, Brummel, Theodore J., Yuh, Chiou-Hwa, Lin, Pei-Ting, Kao, Tzu-Yu, ...
Exposure to sub-lethal levels of stress, or hormesis, was a means to induce longevity. By screening for mutations that enhance resistance to multiple stresses, we identified multiple alleles of...
Control of Metabolic Homeostasis by Stress Signaling Is Mediated by the Lipocalin NLaz (2009)
Hull-Thompson, Julie, Muffat, Julien, Sanchez, Diego, Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour, Ganfornina, Maria D., ...
Metabolic homeostasis in metazoans is regulated by endocrine control of insulin/IGF signaling (IIS) activity. Stress and inflammatory signaling pathways—such as Jun-N-terminal Kinase (JNK)...
Non-lethal PCR genotyping of single Drosophila (2009)
Carvalho, Gil B., Ja, William W., Benzer, Seymour
In Drosophila, genetic techniques relying on stochastic chromosomal rearrangements involve the generation and screening of a large number of fly stocks to isolate a few lines of interest. Here, we...
Heo, Jiyoung, Ja, William W., Benzer, Seymour
Peptide inhibitors of Methuselah (Mth), a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), were reported that can extend the life span of Drosophila melanogaster. Mth is a class B GPCR, which is characterized by a...
Muffat, Julien, Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour
Apolipoprotein D (ApoD) expression increases in several neurological disorders and in spinal cord injury. We provide a report of a physiological role for human ApoD (hApoD): Flies overexpressing...
Prandiology of Drosophila and the CAFE assay (2007)
Ja, William W., Carvalho, Gil B., Mak, Elizabeth M., De La Rosa, Noelle N., Fang, Annie Y., Liong, Jonathan C., ...
Studies of feeding behavior in genetically tractable invertebrate model systems have been limited by the lack of proper methodology. We introduce the Capillary Feeder (CAFE), a method allowing...
Walker, David W., Hájek, Petr, Muffat, Julien, Knoepfle, Dan, Cornelison, Stephanie, Attardi, Giuseppe, ...
Oxidative stress is implicated as a major cause of aging and age-related diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as ischemia-reperfusion injury in stroke. The mitochondrial electron...
Drosophila lifespan enhancement by exogenous bacteria (2004)
Brummel, Ted, Ching, Alisa, Seroude, Laurent, Simon, Anne F., Benzer, Seymour
We researched the lifespan of Drosophila under axenic conditions compared with customary procedure. The experiments revealed that the presence of bacteria during the first week of adult life can...
Multiple-stress analysis for isolation of Drosophila longevity genes (2004)
Wang, Horng-Dar, Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parsa, Benzer, Seymour
Long-lived organisms tend to be more resistant to various forms of environmental stress. An example is the Drosophila longevity mutant, methuselah, which has enhanced resistance to heat, oxidants,...
Mitochondrial "swirls" induced by oxygen stress and in the Drosophila mutant hyperswirl (2004)
Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour
Mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the aging process as well as a wide range of hereditary and age-related diseases. Identifying primary events that result...
Suppression of polyglutamine toxicity by a Drosophila homolog of myeloid leukemia factor 1 (2002)
Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parsa, Benzer, Seymour
The toxicity of an abnormally long polyglutamine [poly(Q)] tract within specific proteins is the molecular lesion shared by Huntington's disease (HD) and several other hereditary neurodegenerative...
Life extension in Drosophila by feeding a drug (2002)
Kang, Hyung-Lyun, Benzer, Seymour, Min, Kyung-Tai
We report that feeding Drosophila throughout adulthood with 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) can significantly increase lifespan, without diminution of locomotor vigor, resistance to stress, or reproductive...
Interview with Seymour Benzer (2002)
Interview conducted in eleven sessions between September 1990 and February 1991 with Seymour Benzer, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience in the Division of Biology. Benzer received his PhD in...
Suppression of polyglutamine toxicity by a Drosophila homolog of myeloid leukemia factor 1 (2002)
Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parsa, Benzer, Seymour
The toxicity of an abnormally long polyglutamine [poly(Q)] tract within specific proteins is the molecular lesion shared by Huntington's disease (HD) and several other hereditary neurodegenerative...
A DEMONSTRATION OF CODING DEGENERACY FOR LEUCINE IN THE SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN, (1998)
Weisblum,Bernard, Gonano,Fabio, Von Ehrenstein,Gunter, Benzer,Seymour
Different leucine sRNA's in E. coli are separable by countercurrent distribution. When these sRNA's are used as donors of labeled leucine during the synthesis of rabbit hemoglobin, in vitro, they...
Twenty Drosophila Visual System cDNA Clones: One is a Homolog of Human Arrestin (1990)
Hyde, David R., Mecklenburg, Kirk L., Pollock, John A., Vihtelic, Thomas S., Benzer, Seymour
From a group of 436 Drosophila melanogaster cDNA clones, we selected 39 that are expressed exclusively or predominantly in the adult visual system. By sequence analysis, 20 of the clones appear to...
From monoclonal antibody to gene for a neuron-specific glycoprotein in Drosophila (1985)
Zipursky, S. L., Venkatesh, T. R., Benzer, Seymour
A monoclonal antibody (MAb24B10), derived from mice immunized with Drosophila retina, exclusively stains photoreceptor cells in the retina and their axonal projections to the optic ganglia. The...
Monoclonal Antibody Cross-Reactions between Drosophila and Human Brain (1983)
Miller, Carol A., Benzer, Seymour
A panel of 146 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), obtained with Drosophila melanogaster tissue as primary immunogen, was tested for cross-reactivity with the human central nervous system. Sites examined...
Monoclonal Antibodies against the Drosophila Nervous System (1982)
Fujita, Shinobu C., Zipursky, Stephen L., Benzer, Seymour, Ferrús, Alberto, Shotwell, Sandra L.
A panel of 148 monoclonal antibodies directed against Drosophila neural antigens has been prepared by using mice immunized with homogenates of Drosophila tissue. Antibodies were screened...
A Drosophila Mutant with a Temperature-Sensitive Block in Nerve Conduction (1978)
Wu, Chun-Fang, Ganetzky, Barry, Jan, Lily Yeh, Jan, Yuh-Nung, Benzer, Seymour
A mutant, napts (no action potential, temperature-sensitive), is described in which axonal conduction fails at high temperature. Synaptic transmission at the larval neuromuscular junction is...
Courtship in Drosophila Mosaics: Sex-Specific Foci for Sequential Action Patterns (1976)
Hotta, Yoshiki, Benzer, Seymour
Mosaic fate mapping is used to locate the foci determining sex-specific steps in the mating behavior of Drosophila. Male performance of following females and displaying wing vibration toward them...
Siddiqi, Obaid, Benzer, Seymour
A new temperature-sensitive paralytic mutant of Drosophila, comatose, is compared behaviorally and physiologically with the previously known types, para and shi. All three have different properties...
dunce, a mutant of Drosophila deficient in learning (1976)
Dudai, Yadin, Jan, Yuh-Nung, Byers, Duncan, Quinn, William G., Benzer, Seymour
Normal Drosophila learn to avoid an odorant associated with electric shock. An X-linked mutant, dunce, has been isolated that fails to display this learning, in spite of being able to sense the...
Conditioned behavior in Drosophila melanogaster (1974)
Quinn, William G., Harris, William A., Benzer, Seymour
Populations of Drosophila were trained by alternately exposing them to two odorants, one coupled with electric shock. On testing, the flies avoided the shock-associated odor. Pseudoconditioning,...
Clock mutants of Drosophila melanogaster (1971)
Konopka, Ronald J., Benzer, Seymour
Three mutants have been isolated in which the normal 24-hour rhythm is drastically changed. One mutant is arrhythmic; another has a period of 19 hr; a third has a period of 28 hr. Both the eclosion...
Genetic Dissection of the Drosophila Nervous System by means of Mosaics (1970)
Hotta, Yoshiki, Benzer, Seymour
Given a mutant having abnormal behavior, the anatomical domain responsible for the deficit may be identified by the use of genetic mosaicism. Individuals may be produced in which a portion of the...
Behavioral Mutants of Drosophila Isolated by Countercurrent Distribution (1967)
Complex as it is, much of the vast network of cellular functions has been successfully dissected, on a microscopic scale, by the use of mutants in which one element is altered at a time. A similar...
A Demonstration of Coding Degeneracy for Leucine in the Synthesis of Protein (1965)
Weisblum, Bernard, Gonano, Fabio, Von Ehrenstein, Gunter, Benzer, Seymour
sRNA acts as an adaptor in the transfer of amino acids into protein [1-5]. Since an organism may contain more than one variety of sRNA for a given amino acid, different coding specificities of the...
The Function of sRNA as Amino Acid Adaptor in the Synthesis of Hemoglobin (1963)
Von Ehrenstein, Günter, Weisblum, Bernard, Benzer, Seymour
According to the adaptor hypothesis of Crick [1] and Hoagland [2], the position of a particular amino acid in a polypeptide chain is determined, not by direct interaction between amino acid and...
A Physical Basis for Degeneracy in the Amino Acid Code (1962)
Weisblum, Bernard, Benzer, Seymour, Holley, Robert W.
If two or more nucleotide sequences specify the same amino acid, the code is said to be degenerate for that amino acid. Evidence that such degeneracy exists in E. coli comes from experiments on the...
A Change from Nonsense to Sense in the Genetic Code (1962)
Benzer, Seymour, Champe, Sewell P.
For the genetic information in a cistron to be translated into a polypeptide chain each coding unit in the nucleotide sequence must correspond to one of the twenty or so amino acids. If not every...
Champe, Sewell P., Benzer, Seymour
Genetic information in DNA is apparently expressed via transcription into RNA messengers [1-5,10] which in turn act as the templates for protein synthesis. Thus, incorporation of base analogues into...
On the Species Specificity of Acceptor RNA and Attachment Enzymes (1961)
Benzer, Seymour, Weisblum, Bernard
One of the steps in protein biosynthesis appears to be the attachment of each amino acid to a specific acceptor (SRNA) molecule. According to the adaptor hypothesis, each SRNA molecule would then fit...
Ambivalent rII mutants of phage T4 (1961)
Benzer, Seymour, Champe, Sewell P.
The rII mutants of phage T4 differ from the standard type in being inactive on strains of Escherichia coli lysogenic for phage X. While the mutants attach to the cells and inject their DNA, progeny...
On the Topography of the Genetic Fine Structure (1961)
In an earlier paper [1], a detailed examination was made of the structure of a small portion of the genetic map of phage T4, the rII region. This region, which controls the ability of the phage to...
On the Topology of the Genetic Fine Structure (1959)
From the classical researches of Morgan and his school [1], the chromosome is known as a linear arrangement of hereditary elements, the "genes." These elements must have an internal structure of...
Induction of Specific Mutations with 5-Bromouracil (1958)
Benzer, Seymour, Freese, Ernst
The hereditary characteristics of an organism occasionally undergo abrupt changes (mutations), and genetic techniques have traced these to alterations at definite locations in the genetic structure....
Fine Structure of a Genetic Region in Bacteriophage (1955)
This paper describes a functionally related region in the genetic material of a bacteriophage that is finely subdivisible by mutation and by genetic recombination. The group of mutants resembles...
Generation of cDNA expression libraries enriched for in-frame sequences
Davis, Claytus A., Benzer, Seymour
Bacterial cDNA expression libraries are made to reproduce protein sequences present in the mRNA source tissue. However, there is no control over which frame of the cDNA is translated, because...
Drosophila drop-dead mutations accelerate the time course of age-related markers
Rogina, Blanka, Benzer, Seymour, Helfand, Stephen L.
Mutations of the drop-dead gene in Drosophila melanogaster lead to striking early death of the adult animal. At different times, after emergence from the pupa, individual flies begin to stagger and,...
Calx, a Na-Ca exchanger gene of Drosophila melanogaster
Schwarz, Erich M., Benzer, Seymour
We have cloned Calx, a gene that encodes a Na-Ca exchanger of Drosophila melanogaster. Calx encodes two repeated motifs, Calx-α and Calx-β, that overlap domains required for exchanger activity and...
Wolbachia, normally a symbiont of Drosophila, can be virulent, causing degeneration and early death
Min, Kyung-Tai, Benzer, Seymour
Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted microorganism of the Rickettsial family, is known to cause cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, or feminization in various insect species. The...
West, Anthony P., Llamas, Lynda L., Snow, Peter M., Benzer, Seymour, Bjorkman, Pamela J.
The Drosophila mutant methuselah (mth) was identified from a screen for single gene mutations that extended average lifespan. Mth mutants have a 35% increase in average lifespan and increased...
Life extension in Drosophila by feeding a drug
Kang, Hyung-Lyun, Benzer, Seymour, Min, Kyung-Tai
We report that feeding Drosophila throughout adulthood with 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) can significantly increase lifespan, without diminution of locomotor vigor, resistance to stress, or reproductive...
A DEMONSTRATION OF CODING DEGENERACY FOR LEUCINE IN THE SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN*
Weisblum, Bernard, Gonano, Fabio, Ehrenstein, Gunter Von, Benzer, Seymour
ON THE ROLE OF SOLUBLE RIBONUCLEIC ACID IN CODING FOR AMINO ACIDS*†
Chapeville, Francois, Lipmann, Fritz, Ehrenstein, Günter Von, Weisblum, Bernard, Ray, William J., Benzer, Seymour
Genetic Dissection of the Drosophila Nervous System by Means of Mosaics
Hotta, Yoshiki, Benzer, Seymour
Given a mutant having abnormal behavior, the anatomical domain responsible for the deficit may be identified by the use of genetic mosaicism. Individuals may be produced in which a portion of the...
Conditioned Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Quinn, William G., Harris, William A., Benzer, Seymour
Populations of Drosophila were trained by alternately exposing them to two odorants, one coupled with electric shock. On testing, the flies avoided the shock-associated odor. Pseudoconditioning,...
Clock Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster
Konopka, Ronald J., Benzer, Seymour
Three mutants have been isolated in which the normal 24-hour rhythm is drastically changed. One mutant is arrhythmic; another has a period of 19 hr; a third has a period of 28 hr. Both the eclosion...
Mitochondrial “swirls” induced by oxygen stress and in the Drosophila mutant hyperswirl
Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour
Mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the aging process as well as a wide range of hereditary and age-related diseases. Identifying primary events that result...
Multiple-stress analysis for isolation of Drosophila longevity genes
Wang, Horng-Dar, Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parsa, Benzer, Seymour
Long-lived organisms tend to be more resistant to various forms of environmental stress. An example is the Drosophila longevity mutant, methuselah, which has enhanced resistance to heat, oxidants,...
Drosophila lifespan enhancement by exogenous bacteria
Brummel, Ted, Ching, Alisa, Seroude, Laurent, Simon, Anne F., Benzer, Seymour
We researched the lifespan of Drosophila under axenic conditions compared with customary procedure. The experiments revealed that the presence of bacteria during the first week of adult life can...
Generation of cDNA expression libraries enriched for in-frame sequences
Davis, Claytus A., Benzer, Seymour
Bacterial cDNA expression libraries are made to reproduce protein sequences present in the mRNA source tissue. However, there is no control over which frame of the cDNA is translated, because...
Drosophila drop-dead mutations accelerate the time course of age-related markers
Rogina, Blanka, Benzer, Seymour, Helfand, Stephen L.
Mutations of the drop-dead gene in Drosophila melanogaster lead to striking early death of the adult animal. At different times, after emergence from the pupa, individual flies begin to stagger and,...
Calx, a Na-Ca exchanger gene of Drosophila melanogaster
Schwarz, Erich M., Benzer, Seymour
We have cloned Calx, a gene that encodes a Na-Ca exchanger of Drosophila melanogaster. Calx encodes two repeated motifs, Calx-α and Calx-β, that overlap domains required for exchanger activity and...
Wolbachia, normally a symbiont of Drosophila, can be virulent, causing degeneration and early death
Min, Kyung-Tai, Benzer, Seymour
Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted microorganism of the Rickettsial family, is known to cause cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, or feminization in various insect species. The...
West, Anthony P., Llamas, Lynda L., Snow, Peter M., Benzer, Seymour, Bjorkman, Pamela J.
The Drosophila mutant methuselah (mth) was identified from a screen for single gene mutations that extended average lifespan. Mth mutants have a 35% increase in average lifespan and increased...
Life extension in Drosophila by feeding a drug
Kang, Hyung-Lyun, Benzer, Seymour, Min, Kyung-Tai
We report that feeding Drosophila throughout adulthood with 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) can significantly increase lifespan, without diminution of locomotor vigor, resistance to stress, or reproductive...
A DEMONSTRATION OF CODING DEGENERACY FOR LEUCINE IN THE SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN*
Weisblum, Bernard, Gonano, Fabio, Ehrenstein, Gunter Von, Benzer, Seymour
ON THE ROLE OF SOLUBLE RIBONUCLEIC ACID IN CODING FOR AMINO ACIDS*†
Chapeville, Francois, Lipmann, Fritz, Ehrenstein, Günter Von, Weisblum, Bernard, Ray, William J., Benzer, Seymour
Genetic Dissection of the Drosophila Nervous System by Means of Mosaics
Hotta, Yoshiki, Benzer, Seymour
Given a mutant having abnormal behavior, the anatomical domain responsible for the deficit may be identified by the use of genetic mosaicism. Individuals may be produced in which a portion of the...
Conditioned Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Quinn, William G., Harris, William A., Benzer, Seymour
Populations of Drosophila were trained by alternately exposing them to two odorants, one coupled with electric shock. On testing, the flies avoided the shock-associated odor. Pseudoconditioning,...
Clock Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster
Konopka, Ronald J., Benzer, Seymour
Three mutants have been isolated in which the normal 24-hour rhythm is drastically changed. One mutant is arrhythmic; another has a period of 19 hr; a third has a period of 28 hr. Both the eclosion...
Mitochondrial “swirls” induced by oxygen stress and in the Drosophila mutant hyperswirl
Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour
Mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the aging process as well as a wide range of hereditary and age-related diseases. Identifying primary events that result...
Multiple-stress analysis for isolation of Drosophila longevity genes
Wang, Horng-Dar, Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parsa, Benzer, Seymour
Long-lived organisms tend to be more resistant to various forms of environmental stress. An example is the Drosophila longevity mutant, methuselah, which has enhanced resistance to heat, oxidants,...
Drosophila lifespan enhancement by exogenous bacteria
Brummel, Ted, Ching, Alisa, Seroude, Laurent, Simon, Anne F., Benzer, Seymour
We researched the lifespan of Drosophila under axenic conditions compared with customary procedure. The experiments revealed that the presence of bacteria during the first week of adult life can...
Hypersensitivity to oxygen and shortened lifespan in a Drosophila mitochondrial complex II mutant
Walker, David W., Hájek, Petr, Muffat, Julien, Knoepfle, Dan, Cornelison, Stephanie, Attardi, Giuseppe, ...
Oxidative stress is implicated as a major cause of aging and age-related diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as ischemia-reperfusion injury in stroke. The mitochondrial electron...
Prandiology of Drosophila and the CAFE assay
Ja, William W., Carvalho, Gil B., Mak, Elizabeth M., De La Rosa, Noelle N., Fang, Annie Y., Liong, Jonathan C., ...
Studies of feeding behavior in genetically tractable invertebrate model systems have been limited by the lack of proper methodology. We introduce the Capillary Feeder (CAFE), a method allowing...
Muffat, Julien, Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour
Apolipoprotein D (ApoD) expression increases in several neurological disorders and in spinal cord injury. We provide a report of a physiological role for human ApoD (hApoD): Flies overexpressing...
Control of Metabolic Homeostasis by Stress Signaling Is Mediated by the Lipocalin NLaz
Hull-Thompson, Julie, Muffat, Julien, Sanchez, Diego, Walker, David W., Benzer, Seymour, Ganfornina, Maria D., ...
Metabolic homeostasis in metazoans is regulated by endocrine control of insulin/IGF signaling (IIS) activity. Stress and inflammatory signaling pathways—such as Jun-N-terminal Kinase (JNK)...