Chapters authored
Conditional Mutations and New Genes in Drosophila
A new class of mutations of Drosophila melanogaster has been generated with the help of γ-irradiation and a new selection procedure; the mutations were named conditional. According to the data of genetic analysis, these mutations are discrete regions in DNA but are different from the Mendelian protein-coding genes. The genes associated with these mutations are named ontogenes. The general pattern of mutation manifestation matches the pattern characteristic of genetic incompatibility in distant hybridization. Development of monstrosities and the observed meiotic abnormalities suggest that ontogenes control the processes providing the proper spatial cell arrangement and switch-on of protein-coding genes. Ontogenes are active at all stages of the soma’s life cycle and germinal tissue. In the character of their manifestation, the ontogenes correspond to the long noncoding RNAs in molecular genetics. The developed methods for generating mutant drosophila strains allow the manifestation and population dynamics of the mutants for this important group of genes to be studied.
Part of the book: Mutagenesis and Mitochondrial-Associated Pathologies