Heritable translocation and dominant-lethal mutation induction with ethylene oxide in mice.

Ethylene oxide was studied for induction of dominant-lethal mutations and heritable translocations in male mice. The chemical was prepared in water and injected intraperitoneally. The dominant-lethal study was conducted using a single injection of 150 mg/kg (maximum tolerated dose); in the heritable translocation study males were injected daily on weekdays for 5 weeks with 60 or 30 mg/kg dose per day. Results clearly showed that ethylene oxide is effective in inducing dominant-lethal mutations and that the 4 stocks of untreated females used do not differ or may differ only slightly in the ability of their eggs to repair ethylene oxide-induced lesions in male germ cells. Increases in the frequencies of heritable translocations were also observed at the 2-dose levels. These frequencies did not deviate significantly from those expected on the basis of dose-square kinetics.