Date of Award:
5-1-1975
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Biology
Department name when degree awarded
Biology
Committee Chair(s)
James T. Bowman
Committee
James T. Bowman
Committee
John R. Simmons
Committee
Larre N. Egbert
Abstract
Sorbitol (D-Glucitol) is used as a food additive and artifical sweetener. The chemical is known to have several pathological effects, among which are macroangiopathy, neuropathy, and cataracts. These are especially prevalent in diabetics. It was the objective of this investigation to critically examine the genetic effects of sorbitol in Drosophila melanogaster. After determining that sorbitol is not lethal, the imbibing behavior of the flies was tested and tests for the induction of somatic mutations, sex-linked recessive lethals, and chromosome loss were performed. In each case, the experiments were paralleled by appropriate positive and negative controls. In analyzing the data, the sorbitol-treated populations were compared to the untreated controls, using several statistical tests. The reliability of the conclusions were evaluated by testing the hypothesis that the actual mutation frequencies of treated populations could be twice the observed control values. It was concluded that the population sizes were adequate to negate this hypothesis. In all the experiments performed, sorbitol proved nonmutagenic. In fact, the frequency of sorbitol-induced exceptions proved to be less than those observed in the untreated control cultures in all experiments.
Recommended Citation
Abbott, David M., "The Effects of Sorbitol (D-Glucitol) on the Induction of Mutations in Drosophila melanogaster" (1975). Biology. 404.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd_biology/404
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