Genetic alteration, Drosophila

Vogel, E.W., van Zeeland, A.A., Raaymakers-Jansen Verplanke, C.A. Zijlstra, J.A. (1985) Analysis of hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA)-induced genetic alterations in relation to DNA damage and DNA repair in Drosophila melanogaster. Mutat. Res., 150, 241-260... 

Several assays have been developed for assessing genetic alterations in germ cells. The information developed can be used for hazard identification in the cancer risk assessment process or, more appropriately, in the development of a genetic risk assessment. The decision of when to conduct a germ cell assay is an important one because the assays are generally expensive and time-consuming. An exception is the use of Drosophila in assays that can serve as a substitute for mammalian assays. 

Drosophila. The use of drosophila (fruit flies) for mutagen studies has several advantages. Few higher organisms can be reared in large numbers as easily and economically as can drosophila.34,35 Thus, one can study many types of genetic alterations dominant lethals, point mutations,... 

Caussinus E, Gonzalez C (2005) Induction of tumor growth by altered stem-cell asymmetric division in Drosophila melanogaster. Nat Genet 37 1125-1129... 

A genetic screen for novel clock mutations in Drosophila sA to the discovery of the first kinase that plays a role in circadian rhythmicity (Price et al 1998). Doubletime dht) is a member of the casein kinase 1 (CKl) family, and is 86% identical to human casein kinase Is (CKls) within the kinase domain (Kloss et al 1998). Originally, two mutations were isolated that produce short (18 h dht ) and long (27 h dbt ) behavioural rhythms. Since then, many period-altering mutations and loss-of-function alleles have been described. The majority of these mutations reside in the kinase domain of dbt, altering its ability to bind and/or phosphorylate its substrate (Fig. 1). All of the DBT point mutations analysed alter the phosphorylation state and accumulation of PER, indicating that DBT affects... 

Lacaille, F Everaerts, C. and Ferveur, J.-F. (2009). Feminization and alteration of Drosophila taste neurons induce reciprocal effects on male avoidance behavior. Behav. Genet., 39, 554-563. 

Bauer, H., Demerec, M., and Kaufmann, B. P. (1938), X-ray induced chromosomal alterations in Drosophila melanogastery Genetics 23y 610-630. 

---