Deletions induced in the white and vermilion genes of Drosophila melanogaster by the antitumor drug cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II).

This paper describes the analysis of cisplatin induced mutations at the white (w) and vermilion (v) loci located on the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Twenty-eight w and eight v mutants have been found in a male genetic context and 42 w mutants in a female genetic context. In these latter experiments, genetic analysis showed the presence of multi-locus deficiencies in 18 out of 42 w mutants. Eighteen w and three v intragenic mutations were analyzed at the molecular level. Seventeen w and three v mutants carry deletions within the gene, ranging in size from 4 to 109 base pairs. Sequence analysis of the mutants indicates that most of them were produced by non-homologous recombinational events occurring between short (2-5 bp) sequence repeats on both sides of the deletion, one repeat being retained at the new junction. These results differ largely from those obtained in prokaryotic and other eukaryotic cells.