Biopolymers and cell. 1991. Volume 7. № 5. 86 - 98

GERSHENSON S. M., ALEXANDROV Yu. N., SHANDALA T. V., AIZENZON M. G., SUBBOTA R. P.

Locus Specificity and Instability of Mutations Induced in Drosophila melanogasler by Natural and Synthetic Polynucleotides

Summary

    Injection of Drosophila melanogaster males with DNA from the nuclear polyhedrosis virus of Calleria mellonella induced visible mutations predominantly at two loci, Beaded (Bd, 3-93.8) and thickened veins (thl, 2-75.5). Both mutations arose recurrently with a high frequency (locus specificity). Among the descendants of Bd and thi mutants many visible mutations appeared, also recurrently, in a few definite loci. In a number of cases two or several of these mutations arose simultaneously in a single germ cell (multimutational effect). Similar multimutational events characterize recessive lethal mutations induced by synthetic polynucleotides. Transpositions and putative transposi¬tion were observed of genes in which mutations were induced by exogenous DNA as well as frequent reversions to wild type of some of these mutations. Results of experi¬ments conducted by molecular-genetical methods point to a role of mobile genetic ele¬ments in the induction of mutations by exogenous DNA. Possible mechanisms are dis¬cussed of the mutagenic action of DNA and synthetic polynucleotides.