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Genetical and Cytological Studies of Lethals induced by Chemical Treatment in Drosophila melanogaster.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2018

Helen Slizynska  and
B. M. Slizynski
Helen Slizynska
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Genetics, Polish Medical School, University of Edinburgh, and the Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh
B. M. Slizynski
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Genetics, Polish Medical School, University of Edinburgh, and the Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh
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Extract

The present paper forms a continuation of studies of recessive sex-linked lethals in Drosophila melanogaster published previously (1938, 1941). In these, lethals occurring spontaneously, induced by X-ray treatment and by ultra-violet light were examined cytologically in the salivary gland chromosomes.

The genetic factors which stop or change the development of an individual in such a way that its death ensues under normal conditions are termed lethals. A lethal effect may be connected with a mutation of a gene or with its absence from the chromosome: those which cannot be proved to be associated with the absence of a cytologically detectable part of the chromosome are considered as due to “point” mutations.

The absence of a microscopically identifiable section of a chromosome with all its genetical and structural elements is called a deficiency. With few exceptions (Muller, 1935; Demerec and Hoover, 1936) the deficiencies in the X-chromosome, whatever their size and whatever loci they involve, are lethal for males. In females heterozygous for them deficiencies of small or even moderate size usually do not produce any visible phenotypical effect, although some cases are known (Mohr, 1923; Slizynska, 1938) in which a heterozygous deficiency for a particular band is always associated with a definite phenotype. Thus a lethal effect may or may not be the result of a deficiency, while a deficiency in the X-chromosome almost always has a lethal effect in the males.

In 1941 Auerbach (1943, 1946 in press) succeeded in producing “visible” and lethal mutations and chromosomal rearrangements by chemical treatment in which adult males were exposed to vapours of (C1CH2CH2)2S in a specially designed apparatus. The object of this paper is to show what proportion of sex-linked recessive lethals produced in Drosophila melanogaster by these new agents is connected with detectable deficiencies. Besides finding out whether chemically produced lethals are associated with detectable deficiencies, the problem of the relation between lethals and “visible” mutations is discussed on the basis of their respective distributions along the chromosome. It should be stated that the lethals connected with gross structural changes represent probably only a small fraction of such lethals actually produced since many of them were eliminated by zygotic lethality.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , January 1945 , pp. 234 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1945

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References

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