Pesticide‐induced complete and partial chromosome loss in screens with repair‐defective females of drosophila melanogaster

Commercial preparation of fungicides (captan and maneb), herbicides (bromacil, paraquat, picloram, and 2,4‐D), and insecticides (carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, DDT, diazinon, carbofuran, and permethrin) were tested for their ability to induce complete and partial chromosome losses in Drosophila melanogaster males. In an attempt to identify the mutagenic activity of pesticides that are toxic in low concentrations in Drosophila, these males were mated with mus‐302 repair‐defective females. The rationale for this mating scheme is based on the repair of genetic damage in Drosophila sperm by maternal enzymes in the zygote, and on the reports that there may be increases in the frequency of recovery of chemically induced chromosome losses in crosses of treated males with mus‐302 females. Verification of the sensitivity of this screen in this study came from significant increases in the frequency of chromosome loss induced by low concentrations of the positive controls. N‐nitrosodimethylamine and methyl methanesulfonate. Of the 13 pesticides, the insecticide chlorpyrifos induced a significant amount of ring‐X chromosome loss. No pesticide induced a significant increase in partial chromosome loss. These results are discussed in relation to the usefulness of repair‐defective mutants in screens for genetic damage in Drosophila and other higher eukaryotes by chemicals that are toxic or cause sterility at low concentrations.