Demonstration of a heritable fragile site in human chromosome 16 with distamycin A.

Fragile sites are induced in chromosome 16 (band q22) of lymphocytes from some individuals, when the lymphocyte cultures are treated with the oligopeptide antibiotic distamycin A. These induced fragile sites are inherited in a Mendelian fashion; there are interfamilial differences in their appearance. The interactions between distamycin A and chromosomal DNA and the possible composition of the DNA at the induced fragile sites are discussed.