Factors affecting the nature of induced mutations

Abstract

The recent considerable expansion of specific-locus-mutation data has made possible an examination of the effects of germ-cell stage on both quantity of mutation yield and nature of mutations. For chemicals mutagenic in poststem-cell stages, three patterns have been identified according to the stages in which they elicit maximum response: (1) early spermatozoa and late spermatids; (2) early spermatids; and (3) differentiating spermatogonia. The majority of chemicals tested fall into Pattern 1. Chemicals that are also mutagenic in stem-cell spermatogonia do not preferentially belong to any one of these three categories. For only one chemical (CHL) has an entire set of mutations been analyzed molecularly. However, the results of genetic and molecular analyses of genomic regions surrounding six of the specific-locus markers allow us to conclude that any mutation that causes lethality of homozygotes (in the case of d, prenatal lethality, specifically) must involve one or more loci in addition to the marked one. Such mutations have been classified as large lesions'' (LL), the remainder as other lesions'' (OL). Analysis of the data shows that, regardless of the nature of the chemical (Pattern-1, -2, or -3), (1) LLs constitute a very low proportion of the mutations induced in either stem-cell ormore » differentiating spermatogonia, and (b) LLs constitute a high proportion of mutations induced in postmeiotic stages. Chemicals that are active in both pre- and postmeiotic stages produce LL or OL mutations depending on cell stage.« less