Date of Award:

5-1-1959

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Department name when degree awarded

Zoology

Committee Chair(s)

Eldon J. Gardner

Committee

Eldon J. Gardner

Committee

Datus M. Hammond

Committee

B. Austin Haws

Committee

Lewis W. Jones

Abstract

Phenotypes in Drosophila can be altered by subjecting the developing larvae to environments containing an exess of heavy metal salts (34, 36). Such alterations, which resemble the effects of mutant genes but are not inherited, have been called phenocopies. The mechanism through which the phenocopy is produced may suggest a process through which a mutant gene influences a phenotype. In cases where such parallels are drawn, it is assumed that a mutant gene and an environmental agent have a similar effect on a particular step in an established metabolic pathway. It would seem less likely but not impossible for the gene itself to be altered by a chemical agent in the environment. The purpose of the present investigation is to analyze the effect of excess copper and iron salts on the phenotype and genotype of several Drosophila stocks.

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