Studies on mutagen-sensitive strains of Drosophila melanogaster. IX. Modification of genetic damage induced by X-irradiation of spermatozoa in N2, air or O2 by 4 autosomal repair-deficient mutants

The influence of defects in DNA repair on the recovery of X-ray-induced genetic damage in spermatozoa of Drosophila melanogaster was studied. Basc males were irradiated in N2, air or O2 and mated to females of 4 repair-deficient mutant types. The responses in the different crosses with repair-deficient females were compared to those with repair-proficient mei+ females (maternal effects). The main findings are the following: (1) with excision repair-deficient females the frequencies of spontaneous recessive lethals tend to be higher than with mei+ females; (2) with excision repair-deficient females the frequencies of recessive lethals induced in N2 and air and often in O2 are higher than with mei+ females; (3) with post-replication repair-deficient mutants a maternal effect is found for X-ray-induced translocations. The data are discussed and explained. (Auth.)