Salivary-gland chromosomes of 54 methyl methanesulphonate- and 50 triethylene melamine-induced X-chromosome recessive lethals in Drosophila melanogaster were analysed. Two of the lethals induced by the mono-functional agent and 11 of those induced by the polyfunctional agent were found to be associated with detectable aberrations. A complementation analysis was also done on 82 ethyl methanesulphonate- and 34 triethylene melamine-induced recessive lethals in the zeste-white region of the X chromosome. The EMS-induced lethals were found to represent lesions affecting only single cistrons. Each of the 14 cistrons in the region known to mutate to a lethal state was represented by mutant alleles, but in widely different frequencies. Seven of the TEM-induced lethals were associated with deletions, only one of which had both breakpoints within the mapped region. Twenty-six of the 27 mutations in which only single cistrons were affected were mapped to 7 of the 14 known loci. One TEM- and two EMS-induced mutations were alleles representing a previously undetected locus in the zeste-white region.

The possibility that changes in latent viruses would contribute to the differentiation of sublines in inbred strains of mice was investigated using the Bittner virus and the BALB/c strain of mice. The results show that, at least for this combination, there is no reason for implicating latent viruses in subline differentiation.

Many of the yellow alleles found in Drosophila melanogaster result in a unique pattern of phenotypic expression. These patterns follow the morphologically distinct cell types of the cuticle, so that for one allele all the bristles of the head and thorax might be mutant, while most of the fly appears wild type. A comparison of many different y mutants demonstrates that the yellow phenotype is expressed independently in most if not all the different cell types which form the cuticle. Control of this expression appears to reside at the yellow locus itself.

The high XO production in Bpa+ mouse stocks appears to be due, not to Bpa itself, but to a closely linked factor for high XO production (Fxo) which may be a gene or a chromosomal aberration. The change of Bpa Fxo to Bpa non-Fxo occurs with a frequency of about 6%; the reciprocal change from Bpa Fxo to Fxo non-Bpa has not been found. There is some evidence that Fxo might involve a structural alteration such as an inversion or a deletion. The X-chromosome loss is due to non-disjunction which occurs in about one-third of the oocytes, probably mainly at meiosis I. Frequencies of other chromosomal abnormalities found in the stocks are given.

We propose a general hypothesis involving properties of circular DNA which can explain such phenomena as the petite mutation, suppressiveness, and the polarity observed in mitochondrial recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This hypothesis involves excision and insertion events between circular DNA molecules as well as structural rearrangements in the DNA generated by these events. The special properties of circular DNA have been considered in analysing recombination, and a number of results are obtained which are not intuitively apparent.

This hypothesis can be applied to any situation involving circular DNA such as bacterial plasmids and cytoplasmic circular DNAs, where the opportunity exists for recombination and rearrangement events.

In order to detect regulatory genetic sites in the autosomes of Drosophila melanogaster, the levels of X-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydro-genase and autosomally linked α-glycerophosphate and isocitrate dehydrogenases have been monitored in extracts of flies aneuploid for regions of chromosomes II and III. In addition to expected structural gene dosage responses of α-GPDH and IDH, flies hyperploid for several autosome regions were found to display altered levels of one or more of the enzymes studied. While IDH activity was increased in flies hyperploid for segments of both chromosomes II and III, α-GPDH activity was decreased in specific hyperploids for chromosome II regions only. The latter group of segmental aneuploids were normal with respect to levels of chromosome II-linked alcohol dehydrogenase. To test if the observed responses were due to dosage changes of discrete genes lying within the larger effective segments, flies aneuploid for subdivisions of the chromosome segments 21A-25CD, 35A–40, and 70CD–71B were assayed. For two of these large segments so analysed, the apparent effects were attributable to specific small subdivisions, suggesting the presence of discrete regulatory sites within the latter. For the 35A–40 region the α-GPDH effect observed for subdivisions was not sufficient to account for the large α-GPDH decrease seen in flies hyperploid for the large, inclusive region. These observations are discussed with respect to the possible bases of effect of regulatory elements on enzyme activity.

To test whether large changes in the enzyme levels of segmentally aneuploid Drosophila melanogaster can be ascribed to changes in kinetic properties of the enzymes affected, comparisons have been made with regard to the heat stability, substrate concentration dependency, and the presence of heat-stable inhibitors or activators within the extracts of aneuploid and control flies. By these criteria, no differences were found between controls and the α-GPDH activity of flies trisomic for chromosome II segments 27D–31E, 35A–40, 41–45F, and 57B–60F and no differences were evident between the IDH properties of 70CD–71B aneuploids and their controls. The enzyme changes observed in these aneuploids are more likely associated with changes in the rates of accumulation of the enzyme molecules. The IDH of flies trisomic for the 27D–31E region was more heat-stable than that of controls while the α-GPDH of flies trisomic for the 21A–25CD region displayed an apparent Michaelis constant for α-glycerophosphate lower than that of controls. The possible bases for these latter qualitative distinctions are discussed.

Four surface exclusion systems have been identified amongst a group of F-like plasmids in E. coli: SfxI(F), SfxII (ColV2 and R538-1fin−), SfxIII (ColVBtrp and R1-19) and SfxIV (R100-1 and R136fin−). None of these systems was expressed in stationary phase cells or, except for ColVBtrp, during fin+ transfer inhibition, showing that the surface exclusion gene(s) is usually co-controlled with the transfer genes.

Recipient cells carrying two plasmids specifying different surface exclusion systems did not always express both of these: the overall pattern suggested that the four systems and/or their sites of action are related. There was no surface exclusion between donor cells carrying two plasmids determining different surface exclusion systems and recipient cells carrying a plasmid determining either one of these. Our hypothesis to explain this and other results is that surface exclusion prevents interaction between the tip of the pilus on the donor cell and a receptor site on the recipient cell surface. Pili (probably mixed) with two types of tips would be present on cells carrying two different plasmids, the one unresponsive to the single surface exclusion system of the recipient cells allowing transfer of both plasmids.

A genetic analysis following the initial detection of a female sterile variant resulted in the finding of seven or eight different female sterile mutants, most or all of which are on linkage groups I and II. They were present in heterokaryotic condition in already existing strains, except one which originated spontaneously during the study. All mutants fail to produce functional protoperithecia. Most of them, however, are able to function as female parents in heterokaryons. All mutants differ morphologically from the wild type, most being subtly different, but two being appreciably different. The apparently high frequency of occurrence of female sterile mutants suggests that protoperithecial development is under an elaborate genetic control. Differences in vegetative morphology appear to be a common property of mutants affecting the early stages of the sexual development.

The distribution of heterochromatic regions in the chromosomes of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid wheat shows that the B genome possesses characteristic large blocks. Though analyses of probable B genome donors indicate that Aegilops speltoides has a pattern of distribution of heterochromatin nearest to the B genome chromosomes, a polyphyletic origin of tetraploid wheat seems more plausible.

This paper provides direct evidence for the occurrence of mitotic crossing-over in leaf tissues and in vitro cell cultures of Nicotiana tabacum. The geno-typic composition of both segregating regions of twin spots was analysed by in vitro culture of the segregating tissue and by regenerating plants from this tissue. The frequency of mitotic crossing-over is influenced by several physical and chemical agents.