Genotoxicity studies with the unstable zeste-white (UZ) system of Drosophila melanogaster: results with ten carcinogenic compounds.

To increase the number of chemicals tested using the zeste-white (UZ) somatic mutation assay, ten selected carcinogens (acetamide, acrylamide, benzo(alpha)pyrene, cyclophosphamide, diethylstilbestrol, 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide, propyleneimine, safrole, thiourea, and o-toluidine) have been evaluated in this assay. Our results show that all the compounds tested produce significant increases in the eye spot frequency at, at least, one of the concentrations assayed, indicating that the zeste-white assay appears to be highly sensitive to these carcinogenic compounds. That is in agreement with data previously reported by other authors.