The repair-deficient mei-9a drosophila female potentiates chromosome loss induced in the paternal genome by diethylnitrosamine

Following matings of DEN-treated X^c2/B^SYy⁺ males with repair-deficient mei-9^a females and ordinary females, significant increases in complete and partial sex chromosome loss as well as dramatic shifts in sex ratio were found with mei-9^a but not ordinary females. Accordingly, the mei-9^a female enhances the detection of chromosome lesions leading to chromosome loss induced in the male genome by DEN. To date, the 4 compounds tested in this way (DMN, DEN, MMS and procarbazine) exhibit strong potentiation of chromosome loss with mei-9^a females suggesting the possibility that a protocol involving treatment (or not) of X^c2/B^sYy⁺ males mated with mei-9^a females may hold promise as an alternative to traditional tests for chromosome loss using repair-proficient females. Comparison with published translocation data on the 4 compounds indicated above suggests an overall greater sensitivity of the described mei-9^a chromosome-loss test compared with the traditional translocation test in the detection of chemically induced chromosome lesions.