Summary
Following treatment ofDrosophila sperm with ethylene imine (EI) and triethylene melamine (TEM), the treated sperm were stored for six days in the inseminated females. It was found that after storage, the TEM translocation/lethal ratio rose steeply, due to a large increase in translocation frequency accompanied by a much smaller increase in sex-linked lethal frequency. The ratio for EI, however, remained constant before and after storage. This shows an essential difference between mono- and poly-functional alkylating agents, which is presumably related to the mechanism by which they produce chromosome breaks. The hypothesis is put forward that the storage effect might be the main reason for the much greater effectiveness of polyfunctional agents in carcinostasis.
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Watson, W.A.F. Evidence of an essential difference between the genetical effects of mono- and bi-functional alkylating agents. Zeitschrift für Vererbungslehre 95, 374–378 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01268670
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01268670