[Induced somatic mosaicism in Drosophila as a test for evaluating the genetic activity of environmental factors]

Ethylene imine induces mitotic crossing-over between the locus "white" and the centromere by treatment of embryonic and post-embryonic development stages of Drosophila melanogaster. Embryos at the age of 0-4 hours are less sensitive to the recombinogenic effect of ethylene imine than the late embryos at the age of 16-20 hours and early larvae at the age of 24-28 hours after the egg deposition. In the latter case the frequency of somatic mosaics reaches 30%. Mitotic crossing-over is considered as one of the sensitive test-methods of evaluation of genetic activity of some environmental factors.