Open AccessExtrachromosomal control of mutability in Drosophila melanogaster.
Author(s) -
William R. Engels
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.76.8.4011
Subject(s) - extrachromosomal dna , genetics , drosophila melanogaster , dysgenesis , biology , locus (genetics) , sterility , gonadal dysgenesis , melanogaster , drosophilidae , gene , plasmid , endocrinology
Hybrid dysgenesis is a syndrome of germ-line aberrations including, e.g., sterility and mutation, found in certain interstrain hybrids of Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies of sterility have shown that elements responsible for dysgenesis may reside on all major chromosomes, but that their dysgenesis-causing ability is controlled by an unknown extrachromosomal factor. Dysgenic hybrids also give rise to unstable visible mutations thought to be DNA insertions at certain sensitive loci. One such unstable allele at the singed bristle locus, designated snw, was found to mutate at extraordinary rates exceeding 50%. This instability was shown to be under the same extrachromosomal control as hybrid dysgenesis itself. That is, the mutability of snw was reversibly suppressed when placed in the background cytotype known to prevent sterility and other characteristics of hybrid dysgenesis. These results suggest that snw may represent an insertion at the singed locus of a hypothetical gene responsible for hybrid dysgenesis.