Recovery of a marked translocation strain that will facilitate the isolation of balancer chromosomes in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata.
The results of two screens for mutations and chromosomal aberrations in Ceratitis capitata are presented. Three dominant mutations were recovered, including Sb, which is associated with a homozygous lethal translocation between the third and fifth chromosomes, T(3;5)Sb, with the fifth chromosome breakpoint adjacent to y. The T(3;5)Sb chromosome is maintained by selecting for Sb in a T(3;5)Sb, w2 Sb y2 wp/w2 y2 wp stock and can be used to distinguish between other chromosomes carrying differential combinations of the recessive markers w2 y2 wp. The ability to isolate particular marked chromosomes is essential in order to recover an inversion-based balancer chromosome. In addition to the recovery of dominant mutations, gamma-ray induced somatic mosaics of w2 and y2 and zygotic w mosaics were found. The generation of zygotic mosaics following mutagenesis can give mutants with a mosaic germ line that fail to breed true in the first generation. A screen of 22,830 irradiated chromosomes failed to recover variegating alleles of w, although such alleles might be recovered in a larger screen. The high frequency of dominant mutations and the instability at the w locus in our stocks implies a background level of dysgenic activity. These results have implications for the construction and long-term maintenance of genetically modified strains.
Gubb
D
D
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Research Center of Crete, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece. dg27@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
Zacharopoulou
A
A
Livadaras
Y
Y
Gourzi
P
P
Roote
J
J
Savakis
C
C
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002875:Chromosomes; D004175:Diptera / Q000235:genetics*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D009030:Mosaicism; D016296:Mutagenesis; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
D005819:Genetic Markers