GENETIC INSTABILITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: THE INDUCTION OF SPECIFIC CHROMOSOME 2 DELETIONS BY MR ELEMENTS

1 Department of Genetics, University of California, Davis, California 95616

We describe the spontaneous induction of deletions by MR elements at the l(2)gl, net, pr and cn loci. The frequent induction of l(2)gl deletions mimics the high frequency of l(2)gl alleles found in wild populations of D. melanogaster. We suggest that these and other data that we present militate for the conclusion that, in the wild, autonomous MR elements occur and function as mutators. We contend that MR elements are not simply the by-products of hybridization between wild and laboratory strains.

Submitted on March 12, 1979




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