Mutagenicity of sodium azide and its metabolite azidoalanine in Drosophila melanogaster

The mutagenic and toxic activities of sodium azide (NaN3 ) and its organic metabolite l-azidoalanine [N3–CH2–CH(NH)2–COOH] were examined in the different stages of spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Both azide and azidoalanine were toxic to the injected males, but azidoalanine was significa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mutation research. Genetic toxicology and environmental mutagenesis 2000-09, Vol.469 (2), p.253-257
Main Authors: Sadiq, May F, Owais, Wajih M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1-azidoalanine
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical mutagenesis
Drosophila melanogaster
Medical sciences
Sex-linked recessive lethal
Sodium azide
Toxicology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The mutagenic and toxic activities of sodium azide (NaN3 ) and its organic metabolite l-azidoalanine [N3–CH2–CH(NH)2–COOH] were examined in the different stages of spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Both azide and azidoalanine were toxic to the injected males, but azidoalanine was significantly less toxic than sodium azide. Following the injection with 0.2μl of these compounds in the hemocoel of young adult wild-type males, the minimum concentrations of these compounds with complete toxic effects (zero survival) were 40mM sodium azide and 160mM azidoalanine. Sex-linked recessive lethals were scored by the Muller-5 method in three successive broods, representing sperms (brood A), spermatids (brood B), and a compiled group of meiotic and premeiotic germ cell stages (brood C). The results provide strong experimental evidence that azidoalanine is significantly (p0.05) mutagenic and did not increase the rate of sex-linked recessive lethals over those produced by the control group injected with 0.45% NaCl. These results indicate the requirement of metabolic activation of azide in Drosophila as a prerequisite for its mutagenic effects.
ISSN:1383-5718
1879-3592
DOI:10.1016/S1383-5718(00)00079-6