Genotoxic effects of cisplatin in somatic tissue of Drosophila melanogaster.

Third instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster transdihybrid for mwh and flr were exposed to varying concentrations of cisplatin by feeding on dry media wetted with aqueous solutions of the test compound. Larval feeding continued until pupation, and surviving transdihybrid adults were collected seven days following commencement of feeding. Wings of adults were removed and scored under 400X magnification for the presence of twin spots and single spots comprised of clones of cells possessing malformed wing hairs. Cisplatin was found to induce both twin spots and single spots, and significant (p less than 0.05) linear concentration-response relationships were obtained with respect to the induction of all endpoints. Induction of twin spots demonstrates that cisplatin induces mitotic recombination in the somatic tissue of Drosophila larvae. This capacity to induce mitotic exchange in the somatic tissue of Drosophila compares well with the compound's reported ability to induce chromosome breaks in Drosophila germ cells [Brodberg et al. 1983]. However, not all compounds possess similar genotoxic profiles in the somatic and germ tissue of Drosophila.