Genetic Analysis of Three Dominant Female-Sterile Mutations Located on the X Chromosome of Drosophila Melanogaster

Three dominant female-sterile mutations were isolated following ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. Females heterozygous for two of these mutations show atrophy of the ovaries and produce no eggs (ovo( D1)) or few eggs (ovo(D2)); females heterozygous for the third mutation, ovo(D3), lay flaccid eggs. All three mutations are germ line-dependent and map to the cytological region 4D-E on the X chromosome; they represent a single allelic series. Two doses of the wild-type allele restore fertility to females carrying ovo(D3) and ovo(D2), but females carrying ovo(D1) and three doses of the wild-type allele remain sterile. The three mutations are stable in males but are capable of reversion in females; reversion of the dominant mutations is accompanied by the appearance, in the same region, of a recessive mutation causing female sterility. We discuss the utility of these mutations as markers of clones induced in the female germ line by mitotic recombination as well as the nature of the mutations.