Induction of Mutation in Drosophila melanogaster fed a hexane extract of vegetables grown in soil contaminated with particulates from diesel engine exhaust

Abstract

Trans-heterozygous larvae of the improved high-bioactivation cross Drosophila melanogaster (ORR;flr³/TM3, Ser females mated with mwh males) were fed with medium containing hexane extract of the edible portion of five vegetables grown in three different soil treatments for 48 hours. the wing hairs of the surviving flies were analysed for the frequency and size of single and twin spots. It was found that the clone induction frequency of the wing hairs of flies treated with a hexane extract of leaves of sacred basil and green kuang futsoi was not significantly different from that of the controls. Conclusive results were obtained when larvae were raised on the medium containing hexane extracts of lettuce and water spinach grown in contaminated soils. Interestingly, the extracts of multiply onion, grown both in the treated and in the untreated soils, induced mutation in the wing spot test. It was concluded that some plants grown in soil contaminated with diesel exhaust provoked mutagenic responses, whereas some showed negative results.