The capacity of Drosophila for detecting relevant genetic damage

For the detection and study of mutagenic agents, Drosophila offers many advantages. It is a higher organism with a short generation time that is cheap and easy to breed in large numbers. The simple genetic testing methods provide unequivocal answers about the whole spectrum of relevant genetic damage. A comparison of the detection capacity of assays sampling different kinds of genetic damage revealed that various substances are highly effective in inducing mutations, but do not produce chromosome breakage effects at all, or only at much higher concentrations than those required for mutation induction. Of the different assay systems available, the classical sex-linked recessive lethal test thus deserves priority, in view of its superior capacity to detect mutagens. Of practical importance is also its high sensitivity, because a large number of loci in one-fifth of the genome is tested for newly induced forward mutations, including small deletions. Drosophila is capable of carrying out the same metabolic activation reactions as the mammalian liver. An additional advantage, in this respect, is the capacity of Drosophila for detecting short-lived activation products, because intracellular activation occurs within the spermatids ans spermatocytes. These properties make the test for recessive sex-linked lethals a useful tool for verifying results obtained in the pre-screening of potential mutagens with fast microbial assay systems. In studies on non-disjunction, detailed genetic analysis of the induced changes is possible, and these may shed light on the mechanisms involved. A new adaptation of the bithorax transvection method by Mendelson permits the recovery of high yields of chromosome aberrations in a fast one-generation test.