Date of Award

1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

With autoradiography and fluorescent stain techniques, the degree of ethylation of Drosophila melanogaster sperm following treatment with (1-('3)H)-ethyl-methanesulfonate (EMS) or (2-('3)H)-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) was shown by different levels of silver grains on sperm. The degree of ethylation of sperm cells treated with the mutagen in different germ cell stages of development (sperm, spermatids, spermatocytes, or spermatogonia) was determined by varying the time of sampling. The average grains per sperm head from different samples were computed and analyzed with SAS program by the IBM 3033 computer at System Network Computer Center on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. The sperm which originated from the spermatid stages at the time of labeled EMS or DEN feeding had the highest mean grain counts per head. The mature sperm head had high mean grain counts for ('3)H-DEN treatments, but, the lowest mean grain counts for ('3)H-DEN treatments. This indicated that the direct alkylating agent EMS actively ethylated mature sperm head; however, this was not the case for the indirect ethylating agent DEN. Lowest mean grain counts per sperm head came from spermatogonia cell stages at the time of ('3)H-EMS treatment, whereas ('3)H-DEN interferred with spermatogonia in their completion of regular spermatogenesis. A non-linear relation existed between EMS feeding concentration and grain counts per sperm head sample. There is a difference between the levels of initial and retained ethylation in mature sperm after ('3)H-EMS feeding. However, there is no significant difference between the levels of initial and retained ethylation in mature sperm even for a 9 day period after ('3)H-DEN feeding.

Pages

165

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3688

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