Chromosomal assignment of the genetic factor, tu-91k, responsible for a melanotic tumour in the Drosophila melanogaster adult female

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Chromosomal assignment of the genetic factor, tu-91k,

responsible for a melanotic tumour in the Drosophila

melanogaster adult female

K Kosuda

To cite this version:

Note

Chromosomal

_assignment

of the

_{genetic factor, tu-91k, responsible}

for

a

melanotic

tumour

in

the

Drosophila

melanogaster

adult

female

K

Kosuda

Josai

_{University, Faculty of Science, Biological}

_Laboratory,

Sakado,

Saitaraa

_{350-02, Japan}

(Received

3 March

1992; accepted

5

_August

₁₉₉₂₎

Summary - Chromosomal transfer

_experiments

were carried out to

_{assign tu-91k,}

the

genetic

factor

_responsible

for the

_{organ-specific}

and female-limited adult melanotic tumour

in

_{Drosophila melanogaster.}

It was found that the second chromosome has a

_predominant

effect and tu-91k is semidominant in its

_{phenotypic expression.}

melanotic tumour

_/

_{Drosophila melanogaster}

_/

chromosome

_assignment

_/

semi-dominance

Résumé - Assignation chromosomique du facteur génétique tu-91k, responsable du

développement d’une tumeur mélanique chez la femelle de Drosophila melanogaster.

Des

expériences

de

_{transfert chromosomique}

ont été réalisées en vue

d’assigner

le facteur

génétique tu-91k, responsable

d’une tumeur

_{mélanique spécifique}

d’un organe et limitée à la

femelle

adulte de

_{Drosophila melanogaster.}

Il a été trouvé _que le deuxième chromosome a un

_{effet prédominant}

_{et que} tu-91k est semi-dominant dans son

_ezpression

_{phénotypique.}

tumeur

_mélanique

_/

_{Drosophila melanogaster}

_/

_{assignation chromosomique}

_/

semi-dominance

INTRODUCTION

Many

different melanotic tumour strains have been described in

_Drosophila

and other insects since

_Bridges

₍₁₉₁₆₎

first

_reported

one in

_{Drosophila melanogaster,}

but

only

in a rather small

_portion

have the tumour _genes been

_analysed

in detail

_(Gateff

low

_penetrance.

In

_previous

papers, Kosuda

(1990, 1991)

reported

a new melanotic

tumour

_strain,

_C-104,

in D

_{melanogaster,}

in which the

_penetrance

is rather

_high.

The tumour in the C-104 strain has several

_unique

characteristics

_{(Kosuda, 1991).}

As this melanotic tumour

_develops

at an adult

_stage,

whereas most other tumours appear in larval

stages,

especially

in the 3rd instar larvae

_shortly

before

_pupation,

this tumour can be classified as an adult one. It can

_only

be detected under the

_microscope

in female

_{flies, especially}

in the

_vicinity

of the

spermathecae.

In other

_words,

its

_expression

is sex-limited and

_{organ-specific.}

Tumours often become

macroscopically

visible as dense black bodies within the abdominal

cavity

when

they fully

develop.

The incidence of tumour

_development

was shown to increase with _{age (Kosuda, 1990).} To test the role of

_major

chromosomes of D

_melanogaster

in the

_development

of melanotic

_tumours,

chromosomal transfer

_experiments

were

carried out in the

_present

_study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The melanotic tumour strain

_C-104,

used in this

_study

is a

_highly

inbred one and is

derived from a natural

_population

in

_{Budapest, Hungary.}

The 2

_major

autosomes

and the X chromosome of the C-104 strain were

_{independently}

made

_homozygous

by

a routine

procedure utilizing

&dquo;balancer&dquo; chromosomes.

Complicated

inversions contained in these balancer chromosomes

prevent

re-combination between the

_homologous

chromosomes,

and thus preserve the

original

genetic

content of the chromosome in the C-104 strain. Second and third

chromo-somes were marked with

_Cy

In

_{(2LR) CyL/Prrc}

and with In

_(3LR)

TM3

_!76a;/6’6,

respectively.

The sex chromosome was also marked with the Muller-5 chromosome.

The

_mating

scheme is

_presented

in

_figure

1. Female flies

_homozygous

for

_respective

chromosomes were maintained for 2 wk at 29°C to facilitate

_{ageing, by}

_transferring

these flies to fresh vials

_containing

standard cornmeal

_yeast

media every 2 or 3 d. After 2

_wk,

female flies were

_singly

dissected in

_Ringer

solution for

_Drosophila

under

the

_microscope

and were examined under the

_microscope

for _presence or absence

of melanotic tumours in the

_vicinity

of both

spermathecae

(figs 2a,b,c).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Numerical results are

_given

in table I. The

principal genetic

factor

causing

melanotic

tumours in the

_aged

females is located on the second

chromosome,

as is

explicitly

shown in table I.

The

_genetic

factor

_responsible

for the

_development

of female

_specific

melanotic tumours in the C-104 strain is

_designated

tu!-91k. The 3rd chromosome and X chromosome are

_apparently

not involved in the

_expression

of the melanotic tumour

development

in the C-104 strain. It is

_possible

that modifier loci are involved on other than the second

chromosome,

as the

_genetic

control of other melanotic

tumours has

_generally

been found to be multifactorial

_(Barigozzi

et

al 1960;

Burnet and

_Sang,

_1964;

_Mampell,

_1967;

_Lindsley

and

_Grell,

_1968;

Belt and

_{Burnet, 1972;}

Sparrow,

1974,

1978).

It seems evident that the _presence of a second chromosome

the

_proportion

of flies

_carrying

melanotic tumours _{among those}

_homozygous

for the second chromosome is not less than that in the

_original

C-104 strain as

reported

in

Kosuda

_(1990),

_although

reduction in the

_phenotypic

expression

is

_{usually expected}

in such crosses

_owing

to

_changes

in the

_{genetic background.}

The

_heterozygous

effect of tu-91k on the

_expression

of this

organ-specific

and

female-limited adult melanotic tumour was also studied

_using

3-wk-old female

flies. The tu-91k

_heterozygous

females were obtained

_by

crosses between the

C-104 strain and

_Cy

In

_(2LR)CyL

Pm or Carton - S strain. The results

are

summarized in table II. Ratios I and II

_showing

the

_proportion

of melanotic

tumour-developing

females or

_spermathecae

in

_heterozygous

females are 0.179 and 0.095 on

the _average,

_{respectively.}

On the other

_hand,

ratios I and II in

_homozygotes

are

0.281 and

_0.186,

_{respectively.}

Since these

_figures

in

_heterozygous

females are almost

half of those in

_homozygotes,

tu-91k seems to be semi-dominant. In other

_words,

the

_degree

of dominance

_(h)

seems to be

_nearly

0.5.

The

_present

results confirm that the melanotic tumour

_development

in the

C-104 strain of D

_melanogaster

is

_genetically

controlled and the

_hereditary

mode is

relatively simple

and the second chromosome has a

predominant

effect. The

major

gene

responsible

for this melanotic tumour mutation on the second chromosome is

named tu-91k. It should be noted that the tu-91k _gene is not recessive as are other

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