Three genetically distinct ochre suppressors have been identified in a strain of Escherichia coli B/r, all of which suppress a tyrosine auxotrophy and classify as class 2 by phage suppression pattern. One ochre suppressor, which was obtained by conversion from a class 2 amber suppressor, and a second ochre suppressor obtained directly from the non-suppressing parent, were found to have separate map locations, though a peculiar phenotype with regard to a leucine auxotrophy is exhibited by strains carrying either suppressor. We suggest that both suppressors correspond to separate genes for glutamine-inserting tRNA. A Leu+ mutant of a strain carrying one of these suppressors was studied and was found to contain a further nonsense suppressor having amber-suppressing activity at a reduced level. We suggest that this suppressor might result from a mutation in another part of the translational machinery concerned with glutamine insertion. The third ochre suppressor has no effect on the leucine auxotrophy and mapping data suggest that it may be supL, an ochre suppressor probably inserting a different amino acid, from glutamine.

The direct and correlated response to selection of scutellar microchaetae and scutellar bristles has been analysed by determining the contribution of the three major chromosomes, alone and in combination with each other, to the overall response. The results of the analysis confirm a previous finding, based on a formal statistical approach, that response to selection for microchaetae had highly pleiotropic effects on scutellar bristles. In lines selected, each for high and low microchaetae, genetic changes in the 2nd and 3rd chromosomes are pre-eminent and essentially equal. Inter-chromosomal interactions are of relatively minor importance in interpreting the response to selection for microchaetae but assume greater importance with respect to the correlated character. The results are discussed in terms of the genetic correlation between fitness and the character measured.

1. Mu particles can be removed from stock 540 Paramecium aurelia by incubation in a solution of 1·0 mg/ml RNAase for 12 h. Only a relatively small percentage of cells become mu-free and it is suggested that this variation is due to the activity of the M genes producing metagons at different times.

2. Paramecia, made mu-free by growth at elevated temperatures, can be re-infected with mu by allowing the cells to swim in a brei of stock 540 paramecia. The re-infection is only permanently successful with cells that were made mu-free 10 days earlier.

The allele kr1, conditioning ready crossability between wheat and rye when wheat is the female parent, is at a locus already known to be on chromosome 5B of wheat. This locus was mapped using a telocentric chromosome consisting of the long arm of chromosome 5B. Mapping was carried out by analyses of F2 and testcross progenies. The two experiments gave a mean recombination frequency, between the locus and the centromere, of 11·45 ± 3·0%. The possibility of different recombination frequencies in male and female meiosis is discussed.

Mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa tolerant to the action of trypsinsensitive aeruginocins can be readily isolated. They are found to be heterogeneous for a range of phenotypic characteristics (including the pattern of membrane protein components in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), response to bacteriophages (including both plaque formation and the ability to be lysogenized), sensitivity to various toxic agents, colonial morphology, and cellular morphology. The nature of these changes strongly supports the view that the mutants examined have undergone alteration in membrane structure. A limited genetic analysis indicates that at least two chromosomal regions are involved.

The results of a previous paper on the effect of optimizing selection, mutation and drift on a metric character determined by a large number of loci have been extended to include the possibility that, in addition to selection for an optimal value, there may be independent selection in favour of heterozygotes; it is assumed for simplicity that at each locus the heterozygote has the same advantage, s, over each of the homozygotes. Under selection alone there is a stable equilibrium if s > ca2, where c is a measure of the intensity of the optimizing selection and a is the effect of a gene substitution. Under the additional forces exerted by mutation and by drift due to finite population size each locus behaves independently of the other loci as if it had a heterozygous advantage equal to (s − ca2).

The kinetics of spermatogenesis in the mouse, and the possible genetic controls, have been investigated in different genotypes by means of the method of velocity sedimentation at unit gravity to separate testis cells and nuclei labelled with tritiated thymidine. The progression of the radioactivity through different sedimentation classes of cells provides a measure of their kinetics. The results demonstrate kinetic differences at the stage of spermatocyte differentiation between the C57BL/6 and AKR inbred strains of Mus musculus musculus and in randombred mice of the subspecies Mus m. molossinus. These kinetic differences are controlled by genetic factors which are not linked to the Y chromosome. The relevant autosomal alleles of C57BL/6 are dominant over those of AKR in F1 hybrids.

Two new types of mutants of the FP2 sex factor have been isolated in males of P. aeruginosa strain PAT. Males harbouring FPd mutants are unable to mediate either sex factor or host chromosome transfer, although they retain the exclusion and precipitation characteristics of wild-type males. Males harbouring the FPs mutant apparently have an altered cell surface as indicated by their loss of precipitability, and although their donor properties are similar to those of wild-type males they show a slightly reduced conjugal fertility.

A previously described sex factor mutant FP* (Stanisich & Holloway, 1972) can be transferred to males carrying either the FPs or FPd factors, and the heterozygous strains produced show restoration of wild-type properties, i.e. wild-type precipitation characteristics of the FPs mutants, and transferability of FPd mutants respectively. This suggests that the mutations of the FPs and FPd factors are recessive to the alleles carried by the FP* factor. The ability to produce such heterozygous strains supports the view that at least two copies of the FP2 factor occur in strain PAT males.

Studies of the growth and composition of Q-strain mice selected over 20 generations for high and low body weight at 6 weeks of age, and their unselected controls, were made on livers and kidneys of males from the five selection replicates A, B, C, D and F. Differences in growth rate between Large and Small QD mice were confirmed from 2 to 9 weeks of age, but were greatest in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh weeks. Total amounts of dry matter, protein, free amino acids, bulk RNA and ribosomes were increased or decreased from control values in proportion to organ weight. A less-perfect relationship between DNA content and organ weight suggested that some small changes in average cell mass had accompanied the main change in cell number in organs from the selected lines. Absorbance profiles of polyribosomes from both organs were identical in selected and control mice: selection had not operated on the proportion of single (currently inactive) ribosomes. Attempts to relate the observed differences in growth rate in QD mice to differences in the rate of protein synthesis produced an unexpected result: incorporation of radioactively labelled amino acids was consistently higher in the organs of the Small mice. Measurements of rates of protein turnover, and calculated rates of protein degradation, suggested that protein might also be degraded more rapidly in the small mice.

Mutant colonies of yeast are described which varied in colour from blue to green and in intensity of colour when grown on medium containing methylene blue. Blue mutant colonies contained more dead cells, decolorized redox dyes more slowly, had a higher respiratory quotient on glucose containing medium, and absorbed more methylene blue dye than did wild-type. The blue colony phenotype was induced both spontaneously and at high frequency by ultraviolet light and ethylmethane-sulphonate in both haploid and diploid strains. Many of the light-coloured colonies isolated following mutagenic treatment reverted to wild-type when subcultured but most dark-coloured colonies remained stable. Stable blue mutants were shown to arise by mutation of many separate nuclear genes in haploids and were often caused by recessive lethals in diploids.

In two-way selection for growth rate in the fungus Schizophyllum commune in two environments (20 °C and 30 °C) response for low growth rate was always greater than for high. This asymmetry was due to inbreeding depression combined with a greater selection differential associated with the low lines in the high temperature environment. Despite the high level of inbreeding applied, two low selection lines derived from the same source (parental isolate 2) showed no decrease in genetic variance during selection. This maintenance of genetic variance was associated with a decrease in stability of development relative to the corresponding high selection lines.

The flanking markers of wild-type recombinant spores originating from crosses of spore colour mutants in Sordaria brevicollis were analysed. Recombinant asci were of two main types – either with one or with two wild-type spores. In most crosses the behaviour of flanking markers was significantly different for these two types of recombinant asci. The main differences were in the polarity of gene conversion (as inferred from parental outside marker combinations) and in the frequency of recombinant outside markers. These differences were interpreted in terms of hybrid DNA models of recombination and correction of heteroduplex DNA.

Two wild-type strains of Coprinus lagopus isolated from a single basidiocarp differ by a factor of two in their basal level of alkaline phosphatase. The gene responsible for this difference is allelic to reg-2 and unlinked to the pho loci; the allele conferring a lower basal level is dominant both in diploids and dikaryons.

The variation in the response to selection was studied by replication of selected lines. A random-bred strain of mice was divided into six replicates. Two-way selection for 6-week weight was applied in an identical manner to each replicate, and each had an unselected control. Each line (6 large, 6 control, 6 small) was maintained by minimal inbreeding with 8 single-pair matings. The overall mean responses, both up and down, were linear and very regular for ten generations, with realized heritabilities of 40% upwards, 33% downwards and 37% for the divergence. The separate replicates, however, differed greatly in their realized heritabilities, with upward selection ranging from 25 to 46%, and downward selection from 16 to 50%. The theoretical prediction that, because of genetic drift, the standard error of a realized heritability is underestimated by the standard error of the regression of response on cumulated selection differential was borne out in this experiment. The empirical standard error, calculated from the observed variance between replicates, was more than twice as great as that of the regression. The empirical standard errors showed that the asymmetry between upward and downward responses was not significant. The variation between the replicates was ascribed mainly to random drift, which may seriously influence the conclusions about the realized heritability and the asymmetry of response that would be drawn from a single experiment with the population size of one of these replicates. After 23 generations of selection the large lines were approaching limits, and the limit appeared to be at the same level in all. The small lines showed an undiminished realized heritability after 23 generations, but the selection differentials were then so small that little progress was made. There was evidence of counter-acting natural selection. All aspects of productivity – proportion of fertile matings, litter size and weaning rate – declined in the control lines. The overall productivity of the large lines was a little below the controls, and that of the small lines was reduced to about half the level of the controls. The separate replicates differed from each other significantly in all the components of productivity.

The mutant phenotype Abnormal abdomen is under the control of a major gene, A53g located distally on the X chromosome. The phenotypic abnormalities are a result of the developmental interaction between this major gene and a modifier system associated with the residual genotype. The primary developmental effect of this mutant genotype is an interference with adult histoblast differentiation resulting in a raggedness or loss of tergite material due to the changes in the formation of the adult abdominal hypoderm. A secondary effect is an interference with middorsal fusion of the histoblasts.

The developmental effect of the genotype is influenced by a number of factors which include crowding, humidity, temperature, and the age of the culture. The mutant phenotype is due to an interaction of the major gene and the modifier system in association with these environmental factors. Gene action in relation to the final phenotype is postulated to be a two-step affair. The first is an increase in protein synthesis under the influence of the modifier system; and the second is the reaction of the histoblast, under the influence of the major gene, to this increase in protein synthesis during its differentiation into adult hypoderm. The function of the environment in this sequence of developmental reactions is postulated to be in its control of the utilization of the increased protein associated with the action of the enhancer genes. This hypothesis is discussed in terms of (1) the production and utilization of gene products and of (2) the regulation of development in terms of this production and utilization in a balanced developmental system.

An experiment was carried out to test whether two laboratory cage populations of Drosophila melanogaster from different origins (Kaduna and Pacific) differed in the genes for sternopleural bristle number. The means, variances and heritabilities of the two populations and the synthetic formed from crosses between them were very similar.

Selection for low bristle number was practised in small replicate lines, six of each pure population and nine of the synthetic. On average, Pacific responded to selection rather more rapidly than either Kaduna or the synthetic, but there was little difference in the limit achieved.

Crosses between replicates within populations were made and selection continued, and these lines subsequently crossed between populations and reselected. Additional response was obtained by this procedure but the crosses between the replicates of the pure and synthetic populations attained similar selection limits.

An analysis of effects of individual chromosomes from the selected lines on bristle number indicated that the contribution of each chromosome to total response was about the same in Pacific, Kaduna and the synthetic.

It is concluded that differences in gene frequency, rather than the presence or absence of particular alleles, are mainly responsible for the differences observed between the populations.

The variability of recombination frequencies between alleles of the ftr cistron is assessed and shown to be normally in the range of ± 25% though occasionally replicates differed by a factor of two and in rare cases even more extremely. It is shown that the variation results from biological differences between separate attempts at the same cross and cannot be ascribed to sampling error or any other controllable cause. In the light of this variability the marker effect alleles already recognized in this cistron are re-examined with a new series of crosses. It is confirmed that marker effect may act to enhance or reduce the recombination frequency but it is shown that enhancement can be expressed in two entirely different ways. There is one type of site which causes a uniform doubling of the recombination frequency in all crosses no matter where the second site is placed in the map. The second type of marker effect enhancement site causes a very great increase in recombination frequency in crosses against relatively closely linked mutants, but its effect diminishes as the distance between the marker effect site and the second site is increased.

A male common shrew trapped at Bonn/BRD was found to have a karyotype differing from the normal karyotype by a dissociation of a large metacentric chromosome. Similar findings are hitherto unknown in mammals.

Serum and urine samples from seven recombinant inbred mouse strains, derived from a cross between BALB/c and C57BL/6, were examined to determine the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgCH) and the major urinary protein (MUP) allotypes. CXBG and CXBJ exhibited the same IgCH alleles as did BALB/c; the others resembled C57BL/6, thus providing no evidence of crossover types. Comparison of the Mup and brown coat colour (b) alleles (both on linkage group VIII) revealed that three of the strains resemble BALB/c and two resemble C57BL/6, whereas the CXBE and CXBI strains are crossover types.

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the stability of the equilibrium point with no linkage disequilibrium are obtained for the three locus model with multiplicative fitnesses. It is shown that there are six inequalities that must be satisfied in order for this equilibrium to be stable. Three of the inequalities require that there be heterozygotic superiority at all loci. The other three are exactly those inequalities which are required for each pair of loci to be stable with linkage equilibrium if they are considered to be an isolated two locus system. Thus, all the information needed to determine the stability of this equilibrium with three loci is contained in one and two locus theory.