Enhanced susceptibility of a transposable-element-bearing strain of Drosophila melanogaster to somatic eye-color mutations by ethyl nitrosourea, methyl nitrosourea, and X-rays.

A strain of Drosophila with the genes z and w+ plus a transposable element (TE) is about 3 times more sensitive than a strain without TE toward somatic eye-color mutations after larval exposure to ethyl nitrosourea, methyl nitrosourea and X-rays. The assay system with TE is simple, reliable, and sensitive for detecting somatic mutations induced in vivo by mutagens.