SPONTANEOUS AND ETHYL METHANESULFONATE-INDUCED MUTATIONS CONTROLLING VIABILITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. I. RECESSIVE LETHAL MUTATIONS

1 Laboratory of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, Japan

The efficiency of the adult feeding method for EMS treatment in Drosophila melanogaster was studied by measuring the frequency of induced recessive lethals on the second chromosome. The treatment was most effective when mature spermatozoa or spermatids were treated and was much less effective on earlier stages. The number of mutations induced was proportional to the concentration except at the highest doses. The recessive lethal rate was estimated to be about 0.012 per second chromosome per 10-4 m. In addition, about 0.004–0.005 recessive lethals per 10-4 m were found in a later generation in chromosomes that had not shown the lethal effect in the previous generation. When the experiments are done in a consistent manner and gametes treated as mature sperm or spermatids are sampled, the results are highly reproducible. However, modifications of the procedure, such as starvation before EMS treatment, can considerably alter the effectiveness of the mutagen.

Submitted on December 18, 1976
Revised on July 15, 1977




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