During the last several decades substantial evidence has been brought forward that suggests a structural organization in the cytoplasm, including those macromolecules that have often been labeled cytosolic, or "sluble". The connotation of these labels has supported the view that the "soluble" class of macromolecules is freely diffusing within the cytoplasm and that their function should be thought of as being governed by principles of diffusion. If so, one would not expect that specific cytoplasmic locations are required for the functions of this set of molecules. However, recently it has been demonstrated that a variety of enzymes are found in specific associations either with other enzymes of the same pathway or with structural cytoplasmic elements, In our work, we are attempting extend these observations by bringing the power of genetic analysis, both classic and molecular, to bear on the issue of metabolic pathway organization in cytoplasm and its functional significance. The experiemental goal is to identify structural patterns of organization, perturb these genetically and assess the phenotypic consequences. We are using enzymes of the glycolytic pathway of Drosophila as our experimental system.
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