Genetic and physiological parameters associated with cadmium toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Two strains of Drosophila melanogaster represent the extremes in resistance and sensitivity to the lethal effects of CdCl2. The strain containing the mutations vermilion and brown (v; bw) and the strain Austin had LC50's of 3.3 and 1.3 mM CdCl2, respectively. The three major chromosomes from these two strains were assorted genetically into the six possible combinations. The measured LC50's for CdCl2 for these six genotypes fell into two groups according to the X chromosome; those containing the X chromosome from v; bw had LC50's 0.5-1.0 mM greater than those in which the X chromosome was from Austin. Since the parent strains differed by 2 mM, we suggest that the X chromosome is a major, but not the sole, site of genes to produce resistance to CdCl2. When 109Cd was in the diet the uptake by v; bw and Austin over 2 days was the same. After 4 days of uptake, the Austin strain excreted the 109Cd five times faster than v; bw but the six genotypes did not differ appreciably in excretion rate from one another and resembled the sensitive parent Austin more than the resistant one. Thus a second process is indicated that distinguishes resistance to CdCl2 that apparently is not associated with the X chromosome.