The stability of mutator (MR)-induced X-chromosomal recessive visible mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

In Drosophila, MR (male recombination) second chromosomes are known to act as mutators and recombination inducers in males. The induction of visible mutations by MR is observed at only a limited number of genes, such as singed bristle (sn), raspberry eye colour (ras), yellow body colour (y) and a carmine eye colour (car). Furthermore, sn mutations induced by MR are highly unstable, changing from a strong to a weak expression or reverting to the wild-type. It has been hypothesized by analogy with IS mutations in microorganisms, that MR-induced mutations also represent mutations of the insertion type. In this investigation the stability of two MR-h12-induced X-linked visible mutations was tested, one singed (snMR) and one raspberry (rasMR). The reversion frequency of both MR-induced mutations was low in the base population as well as upon outcrossing to C(1)DX, yw f females. The data reported here show that the MR-induced mutations become highly unstable when MR is re-introduced. The change of expression of an MR-induced mutation to a weaker phenotype or to the wild-type occurred at a frequency of 3.3 X 10(-3) (ras) to 20.4 X 10(-3) (sn). Recessive lethal mutations induced by MR in the X-chromosomes carrying the MR-induced singed or raspberry mutation were isolated and analysed. Among 11 independently MR-induced lethals in the rasMR-carrying X-chromosome, 4 were found to be allelic to a small deficiency that included the raspberry gene. 13 lethals were induced by MR in the snMR-carrying X-chromosome. Of these, 3 were located near the sn locus but none was allelic to a deficiency including the singed gene.