Decreased Recombination Frequency in Lead Contaminated Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Recombination frequency through testcross involving Drosophila melanogaster can be used as relevant data in assessing the effect of certain substances on organisms. This study aimed to analyze the effect of lead-contaminated culture media on the percentage of recombination events. D. melanogaster was selected as the model organism while crossing over was selected as the observed recombination event. Lead levels in each treatment were 0, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 grams. Crossing over data was collected by calculating the frequency of recombinant-type strains from testcross results involving wildtype strains and vestigial black double mutants. Successively, the recombinant frequencies in the 0-, 0.05-, 0.075-, and 0.1-gram lead groups were 32.40, 14.65, 0, and 0%. The results of the hypothesis test indicated that lead contamination had a significant effect on reducing the recombination frequency. Therefore, lead may negatively impact the molecular aspects that control recombination events. Because recombination is regulated by genes and involves various proteins, a decrease in recombination frequency indicates that lead has a negative impact on genes or proteins during gametogenesis.