Mutation spectra of 1,2-dibromoethane, 1,2-dichloroethane and 1-bromo-2-chloroethane in excision repair proficient and repair deficient strains of Drosophila melanogaster

DNA sequence changes produced by 1,2-dibromoethane (DBE), 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and 1-bromo-2-chloroethane (BCE) were analyzed using the vermilion locus of Drosophilamelanogaster. Under excision repair proficient (exr + ) conditions (mutagenized exr + males mated with exr + females) all mutants isolated from the first generation (F1) after DBE and DCE exposure represented DNA rearrangements (multilocus deletions, small deletions with tandem repeats, duplicate insertions). By contrast, mutants expressing a vermilion phenotype only in the F2 (F1 mosaics) all carried single bp changes