Induction of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in male mice by chlormethine

Chlormethine (WHO), a nitrogen mustard (2,2'-dichloro-N-methyldiethylamine), induces dominant lethal and specific-locus mutations in spermatozoa and spermatids of mice.     

Induction of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in male mice by busulfan

The chemotherapeutic agent busulfan was tested for the induction of dominant lethal and specific-locus mutations in male mice. A dose of 5 mg/kg b.w. of busulfan induces dominant lethal mutations in spermatozoa. A dose of 20 mg/kg b.w. induces dominant lethal mutations in spermatozoa and spermatids. A total of 83,196 offspring were scored in the specific-locus experiments. Busulfan-induced specific-locus mutations were recovered in spermatozoa and spermatids, but not in spermatogonia. The sensitivity patterns for the induction of dominant lethal and specific-locus mutations by busulfan in germ cells of male mice are similar but not identical.     

Frequency and nature of specific-locus mutations induced in female mice by radiations and chemicals: a review.

The inducibility of heritable mutations in female mammals has been measured in the mouse specific-locus test (SLT). For radiation-induced mutations, a large body of data has been accumulated that includes information about biological and physical factors that influence mutation yields. However, relatively few SLT studies in females have been conducted with chemicals to date. A single estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate in oocytes, 6/536,207, has been derived as the most appropriate one to subtract from experimental rates. This rate is highly significantly below the spontaneous mutation rate in males. Mutations recovered from females mutagenized at any time after about the 12th day post-conception are induced in non-dividing cells. In adult females, most oocytes are arrested in small follicles; maturation from this stage to ovulation takes several weeks. High-dose-rate radiations are more mutagenic in mature and maturing oocytes than in spermatogonia of the male; on the other hand, no clearly induced mutations have been recovered from irradiated arrested oocytes. Efficient repair processes have been invoked to explain the latter finding as well as the upward-curving dose-effect relation for acute irradiation, and the fact that dose protraction drastically reduces mutation yield from mature and maturing oocytes. The dose-protraction effect is much greater than that found in spermatogonia. Radiation-induced mutation rates in embryonic, fetal, and newborn females are overall lower than those in the mature and maturing oocytes of adults. A dose-protraction effect has also been demonstrated at an early developmental stage when the nuclear morphology of mouse oocytes most resembles that of the human. Of only 5 chemicals so far explored for their effect in oocytes, 2 (ethylnitrosourea, ENU, and triethylenemelamine, TEM), and possibly a third (procarbazine hydrochloride, PRC), are mutagenic--with at least one of these (ENU) mutagenic in arrested as well as maturing oocytes. However, the mutation rate is, in each case, lower than for treated male germ cells. By contrast, ENU-induced mutation yield for the maternal genome of the zygote is an order of magnitude higher than that for the zygote's paternal genome or for spermatogonia. A high proportion of mutants derived from chemical treatment of oocytes (including the oocyte genome in zygotes) are mosaics, probably owing to lesions affecting only 1 strand of the DNA. A characteristic of specific-locus mutations induced in oocytes is that they include a considerably higher percentage of large (multi-locus) lesions (LLs) than do mutations induced in spermatogonia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The induction of forward and reverse specific-locus mutations and dominant cataract mutations in spermatogonia of treated strain DBA/2 mice by ethylnitrosourea

The mutagenic effectiveness of ethylnitrosurea (ENU) was assessed in treated spermatogonia of DBA/2 mice. In a total of 17,515 offspring examined following 160 mg ENU/kg body weight treatment of parental males, 26 forward specific-locus mutations, 2 reverse specific-locus mutations and 9 dominant cataract mutations were recovered. ENU increased the mutation rate to all 3 genetic endpoints. However, ENU was less effective in treated DBA/2 mice than in the standard experimental protocol employing treated hybrid (102 X C3H)F1 male mice. This observed difference for a direct-acting mutagen such as ENU may result from differences in the detoxification of ENU or from differences in the DNA-repair capabilities of strain DBA/2. The first documented reverse mutation of the b allele is reported. The reversion was shown to be due to an AT to GC transition. To date, in addition to the reverse mutation of the b allele, 5 independent ENU-induced mutations recovered in germ cells of the mouse have been molecularly characterized and all have been shown to be base substitutions at an AT site. This is in contrast to the expected mechanism of ENU mutation induction due to O6-ethylguanine adduct formation which results in a GC to AT base-pair substitution and emphasizes the complexities of mutagenesis in germ cells of mammals.     

A comparison of the dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutation rates induced by treatment of male mice with ethylnitrosourea

Mice were derived from parental males treated with 250 mg ethylnitrosourea per kg body weight. The mice were screened simultaneously for induced dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations. In the spermatogonial treatment group, 16 dominant cataract, 1 dominant corneal opacity and 60 recessive specific-locus mutations were recovered and genetically confirmed in 9352 offspring observed. This lower yield of dominant cataract mutations, when compared with the yield of recessive specific-locus mutations, is similar to results observed by Kratochvilova in a series of experiments on dominant cataract mutations induced by radiation treatment. These results taken with reported results from other dominant mutation test systems, suggest a lower per-locus mutation rate to dominant than to recessive alleles. A corollary to the hypothesis that most dominantly expressed alleles code for an alteration in the function of the normal gene product is that a limited subset of mutations could normally lead to a dominantly expressed mutation. This may explain the lower per-locus mutation rate to dominant than to recessive alleles.

Genetic confirmation tests of recovered presumed dominant cataract mutations indicate that a certain category of phenotypic variants (bilateral, severe or unique lens opacity) is likely to be a true mutation but only represents 7 of the 19 mutations recovered. A second category of phenotypic variants (unilateral, neither severe nor unique lens opacity) has an extremely low probability of being a true mutation. Only 1 confirmed mutation in 181 phenotypic variants was obtained. The remaining category of phenotypic variants (either unilateral severe or unique, or bilateral neither severe nor unique lens opacity) represented the majority, 11, of the confirmed mutations obtained. However, 266 presumed mutations in this category were recovered. If a sub-class of phenotypic variants within this category could be identified that could be ignored owing to a very low probability of being a true mutation, the efficiency of recovery of confirmed dominant cataract mutations would be greatly increased with no sacrifice in the accuracy of the observed mutation rate.

Finally, the 17 confirmed dominant cataract mutations obtained included a class of 7 that produced significantly fewer than the Mendelian expectation of offspring exhibiting the mutant phenotype. This class probably represents both mutations with penetrance effects and mutations with viability effects.

The present experiments represent the first systematic comparison of induced genetically confirmed dominant and recessive mutations for a chemical mutagen in mice. Such results contribute to our limited understanding of the mutation process to dominant alleles.     

Dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations detected in offspring of procarbazine-treated male mice

The induction of dominant cataract mutations by procarbazine was studied concomitantly with the induction of specific-locus mutations in treated male mice. The most effective dose in the specific-locus test, 600 mg/kg of procarbazine, and a fractionated dose of 5 X 200 mg/kg were used. The frequencies of dominant cataract mutations were higher, but not significantly different from the historical control. The ratio between the number of recovered specific-locus and dominant cataract mutations was in accordance with that found in our experiments with gamma-rays (Ehling et al., 1982; Kratochvilova, 1981) or in experiments with ethylnitrosourea (Favor, 1986). A total of 3 dominant cataract mutations were recovered in the offspring of procarbazine-treated spermatogonial stem cells. Two mutations had complete penetrance while the third exhibited a reduced penetrance of approximately 70%. The viability and fertility of the heterozygotes of all 3 mutations were not affected. Only 1 mutation was shown to be viable as a homozygote.     

The frequency of dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations and mutation mosaics in F1 mice derived from post-spermatogonial treatment with ethylnitrosourea

The frequency of dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations and mutation mosaics was determined in F1 mice derived from post-spermatogonial germ-cell stage treatment with 2 X 80, 160 or 250 mg/kg ethylnitrosourea. A total of 5 dominant cataract mutations, 3 dominant cataract mutation mosaics, 1 specific-locus mutation and 9 specific-locus mutation mosaics were recovered in 15,542 screened F1 offspring. Results indicate that ethylnitrosourea treatment increases the mutation rate of dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus alleles in post-spermatogonial germ-cell stages of the mouse and that the mutations occur mainly as mosaics. Genetic confirmation of newly induced mutations occurring as mosaics is more problematical for induced recessive alleles than for induced dominant alleles and should be considered when evaluating such mutagenicity results.     

Induction of specific-locus mutations in male germ cells of the mouse by acrylamide monomer

Acrylamide monomer (AA), injected into male mice at the maximum tolerated dose of 5 x 50 mg/kg (24-h intervals), significantly increased the specific-locus mutation rate in certain poststem-cell stages of spermatogenesis, but not in spermatogonial stem cells. Germ-cell stages in which the treatment induced dominant lethals--namely, exposed spermatozoa and late spermatids (number of surviving offspring only 3% and 27%, respectively, of those in concurrent controls)--jointly yielded the highest frequency of specific-locus mutations. AA thus conforms to Pattern 1 in our earlier classification of chemicals according to the spermatogenic stage at which they elicit maximum response (Russell et al., 1990). No specific-locus mutations were observed among 17,112 offspring derived from exposed spermatogonial stem cells, a result which rules out (at the 5% significance level) an induced mutation rate greater than 2.3 times the historical control rate. A sustained high productivity in matings made for several months following week 3 indicates that there is no significant spermatogonial killing and that cell selection is presumably not the explanation for the negative result. On the basis of genetic and/or cytogenetic evidence, the mutations induced postmeiotically by AA were 'large lesions' (multi-locus), while one of 2 recovered from exposure of differentiating spermatogonia is probably a small lesion. An earlier survey of mammalian mutagenesis results led us to conclude that, regardless of the classification of a chemical according to the stage at which it elicits its maximum response, the nature of mutations is determined by the germ-cell stage in which they are induced (Russell et al., 1990). The AA results on lesion size and on distribution of mutations among the loci fit the general pattern.     

Induction of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in male mice by ifosfamide (Holoxan)

Ifosfamide induced dominant lethal mutations in spermatozoa of mice at doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg and in spermatids and spermatocytes at 600 mg/kg. The highest dose also induced specific-locus mutations in post-spermatogonial germ-cell stages of mice but not in spermatogonial stem cells. The nature of the induced mutations suggests they are intergenic. The spermatogenic specificity of ifosfamide in mouse germ cells is similar to that of the structurally related cytostatic drugs cyclophosphamide and trofosfamide. Due to the post-spermatogonial germ cell specificity of ifosfamide, the genetic risk is limited to a few weeks after exposure.     

Molecular and phenotypic effects of heterozygous, homozygous, and compound heterozygote myosin heavy-chain mutations

Autosomal dominant familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) has variable penetrance and phenotype. Heterozygous mutations in MYH7 encoding beta-myosin heavy chain are the most common causes of FHC, and we proposed that "enhanced" mutant actin-myosin function is the causative molecular abnormality. We have studied individuals from families in which members have two, one, or no mutant MYH7 alleles to examine for dose effects. In one family, a member homozygous for Lys207Gln had cardiomyopathy complicated by left ventricular dilatation, systolic impairment, atrial fibrillation, and defibrillator interventions. Only one of five heterozygous relatives had FHC. Leu908Val and Asp906Gly mutations were detected in a second family in which penetrance for Leu908Val heterozygotes was 46% (21/46) and 25% (3/12) for Asp906Gly. Despite the low penetrance, hypertrophy was severe in several heterozygotes. Two individuals with both mutations developed severe FHC. The velocities of actin translocation (V(actin)) by mutant and wild-type (WT) myosins were compared in the in vitro motility assay. Compared with WT/WT, V(actin) was 34% faster for WT/D906G and 21% for WT/L908V. Surprisingly V(actin) for Leu908Val/Asp906Gly and Lys207Gln/Lys207Gln mutants were similar to WT. The apparent enhancement of mechanical performance with mutant/WT myosin was not observed for mutant/mutant myosin. This suggests that V(actin) may be a poor predictor of disease penetrance or severity and that power production may be more appropriate, or that the limited availability of double mutant patients prohibits any definitive conclusions. Finally, severe FHC in heterozygous individuals can occur despite very low penetrance, suggesting these mutations alone are insufficient to cause FHC and that uncharacterized modifying mechanisms exert powerful influences.     

The frequency of dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations in mice derived from 80 or 160 mg ethylnitrosourea per kg body weight treated spermatogonia

A systematic comparison of the frequency of dominant cataract and recessive specific-locus mutations in mice has been extended to include results for 80 and 160 mg ethylnitrosourea per kg body weight spermatogonial treatment. The frequency of confirmed dominant cataract mutations in the historical control, 80 and 160 mg/kg ethylnitrosourea treatment groups was 1/22594, 8/5090 and 14/6435, respectively. The frequency of recessive specific-locus mutations in the same dose groups was, respectively, 19/227805, 20/13274 and 35/8658. These present results confirm previous results, which indicate that ethylnitrosourea is effective in inducing both recessive specific-locus and dominant cataract mutations although the per locus mutation rate to recessive alleles was observed to be approximately 6 times greater than the per locus mutation rate to dominant alleles. The exclusion of certain classes of lens opacity variant phenotypes, previously demonstrated not to be due to a dominant mutation, from the group of suspected dominant cataract mutations subjected to a genetic confirmation test has greatly improved the efficiency of the test. A total of 23 dominant cataract mutations were confirmed from a group of 67 phenotypic variants. Of the 23 confirmed dominant cataract mutations, 8 were shown to have reduced transmission to the following generation of offspring expressing the mutant phenotype. These results are also consistent with previous results for ethylnitrosourea or radiation treatment in which it was shown that approximately one-third of the recovered mutations have reduced penetrance. One group of dominant cataract mutations, with phenotypic effects on the polar, sub-capsular or corneal regions, is overly represented in the group of recovered mutations with a reduced transmission of offspring expressing the mutant phenotype. Two hypotheses are suggested for this observation, both dependent on the fact that the regions affected indicate that the mutations are expressed later in the development of the eye. Either all carrier individuals have not expressed the phenotype at the time of examination and classification, or later acting mutations are more subject to environmental interactions resulting in more variable expression. Finally, it is argued that a dominant cataract mutation test represents a most practicable protocol to screen for induced dominant mutations in germ cells of the mouse. The imposition of the criterion that suspected variants be subjected to a genetic confirmation test has at least two advantages beside the fact that results represent unambiguous mutational events.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Analysis of morphometric indices in mice for registration of induced mutations in germ cells

The new-born mice of the first generation have been examined for changes in morphometric indices after the influence of fopurine, cyclophosphamide and cadmium chloride on their fathers. It is shown that fopurine and cyclophosphamide, the mutagens for mammals, increase the variability of morphometric indices. The method to calculate the morphometric indices of mice may be used for evaluating genetic risk of the compounds for man.     

Induction of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in male mice by 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU)

1-Methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU) induced specific-locus mutations in mice in all spermatogenic stages except spermatozoa. After intraperitoneal injection of 70 mg/kg body weight of MNU a high yield of specific-locus mutations was observed in spermatids (21.8 × 10⁻⁵ mutations per locus per gamete). The highest mutational yield was induced in differentiating spermatogonia. In 1954 offspring we observed 5 specific-locus mutants (44.8 × 10⁻ mutations per locus per gamete). In addition, 2 mosaics were recovered, which gave a combined mutation rate of 62.7 × 10⁻⁵. In A_s spermatogonia the mutation rate was 3.9 × 10⁻⁵. The same dose of 70 mg/kg of MNU induced dominant lethal mutations 5–48 days post treatment, mainly due to post-implantation loss in spermatids and spermatocytes. It is interesting to compare the induction pattern of mutations by MNU with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and ethylnitrosourea (ENU). Based on the different spermatogenic response of the induction of specific-locus mutations we can characterize the 4 mutagens in the following way: EMS = MMS ≠ MNU ≠ ENU.     

Induction of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in male mice in the low dose range by methyl methanesulfonate (MMS)

Methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) induces specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in spermatozoa and spermatids of mice. A dose of 15 mg/kg b.w. of MMS induces 9% dominant lethal mutations in the most sensitive germ-cell stages, corresponding to the mating intervals 5-8 and 9-12 days post treatment. A dose of 150 mg/kg b.w. of MMS in the same mating intervals induces 100% dominant lethal mutations. The sensitivity pattern for the induction of dominant lethal and specific-locus mutations is the same. In the mating interval 5-8 days a dose of 20 mg/kg b.w. of MMS induced 3.8 x 10(-5) mutations per locus per gamete. The yield of specific-locus and dominant lethal mutations in the low dose range increases proportionally with the dose. A dose given in 2, 4 or 5 fractions yields the same frequency of mutations as a single injection of the total dose. The additivity of small doses proves that the pre-mutational lesions are not or only partially repaired in these stages and that MMS is not or only partially detoxified. In addition, the frequency of dominant lethal and specific-locus mutations depends on the germ-cell stage.     

The effect of dose fractionation on the frequency of ethylnitrosourea-induced dominant cataract and recessive specific locus mutations in germ cells of the mouse

A combined dominant cataract-recessive specific locus mutation experiment for fractionated exposure to ethylnitrosourea (2 X 80 mg/kg, 24-h fractionation interval) was designed to determine if lower doses of ethylnitrosourea are more effective in inducing dominant cataract mutations as suggested by previous results. This observation was not confirmed by the present experiment. The extensive, statistically more reliable specific locus results indicate an additive effect of fractionated ethylnitrosourea treatment. A saturable repair system for ethylnitrosourea-induced DNA damage has been previously documented (Karran et al., 1979; Sega et al., 1986; Van Zeeland et al., 1985). Two parameters inherent to a saturable system, the minimal time required for the saturated system to recover and the minimal dose to saturate the system are important, and results of experiments employing a fractionation exposure protocol must be interpreted relative to these two parameters. Longer fractionation intervals or smaller doses result in a reduced mutagenic effect. Due to the inherently lower experimental variability of the specific locus mutation assay as compared to the dominant cataract assay, the specific locus assay is the test of choice to determine factors affecting the mammalian germ cell mutation rate. The dominant cataract test requires a larger investment of experimental resources to achieve a comparable degree of accuracy. The dominant cataract mutation test is important in assessing the mutation rate to dominant alleles in germ cells of mammals. Due to the immediate expression of the mutant phenotype in newly occurring dominant mutations, a dominant mutation assay screens a genetically relevant endpoint in an assessment of the mutagenic hazard for man in mouse experiments. A multi-endpoint design screening specific locus, dominant cataract, and biochemical mutational endpoints (Ehling et al., 1985) allows a systematic comparison of mutagenic results for different classes of mutations in the same animals.     

The rate of mutation and the homozygous and heterozygous mutational effects for competitive viability: a long-term experiment with Drosophila melanogaster

The effect of 250 generations of mutation accumulation (MA) on the second chromosome competitive viability of Drosophila melanogaster was analyzed both in homozygous and heterozygous conditions. We used full-sib MA lines, where selection hampers the accumulation of severely deleterious mutations but is ineffective against mildly deleterious ones. A large control population was simultaneously evaluated. Competitive viability scores, unaffected by the expression of mutations in heterozygosis, were obtained relative to a Cy/L(2) genotype. The rate of decline in mean DeltaM approximately 0.1% was small. However, that of increase in variance DeltaV approximately 0.08 x 10(-3) was similar to the values obtained in previous experiments when severely deleterious mutations were excluded. The corresponding estimates of the mutation rate lambda > or = 0.01 and the average effect of mutations E(s) < or = 0.08 are in good agreement with Bateman-Mukai and minimum distance estimates for noncompetitive viability obtained from the same MA lines after 105 generations. Thus, competitive and noncompetitive viability show similar mutational properties. The regression estimate of the degree of dominance for mild-to-moderate deleterious mutations was approximately 0.3, suggesting that the pertinent value for new unselected mutations should be somewhat smaller.     

Small fitness effects and weak genetic interactions between deleterious mutations in heterozygous loci of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Rare, random mutations were induced in budding yeast by ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS). Clones known to bear a single non-neutral mutation were used to obtain mutant heterozygotes and mutant homozygotes that were later compared with wild-type homozygotes. The average homozygous effect of mutation was an approximately 2% decrease in the growth rate. In heterozygotes, the harmful effect of these relatively mild mutations was reduced approximately fivefold. In a test of epistasis, two heterozygous mutant loci were paired at random. Fitness of the double mutants was best explained by multiplicative action of effects at single loci, with little evidence for epistasis and essentially excluding synergism. In other experiments, the same mutations in haploid and heterozygous diploid clones were compared. Regardless of the haploid phenotypes, mildly deleterious or lethal, fitness of the heterozygotes was decreased by less than half a per cent on average. In general, the results presented here suggest that most mutations tend to exhibit small and weakly interacting effects in heterozygous loci regardless of how harmful they are in haploids or homozygotes.