Embryonic development in house fly eggs fertilized with genetically deficient sperm.

In house flies, Musca domestica L., eggs fertilized with sperm that have chromosome deficiencies and duplications do not hatch, but develop to a stage where a fully differentiated, prehatch larva is formed. Fifteen different chromosome translocations involving most of the 10 arms of the 5 autosomes were studied by crossing male translocation heterozygotes to normal females. Egg hatch was reduced to 36-66% depending on the translocation used. Eggs that did not hatch after 24 hours were fixed, stained, and examined for stage of development. Several translocations involving the right arm of chromosome 4 indicate that the region closest to the centromere contains genes that affect the process of syngamy or early cleavage divisions, but do not reduce the ability of the sperm to compete for egg fertilization. Approximately 70% of the autosomal genes can be absent from sperm (not simultaneously but in different crosses) without inhibiting embryonic development.