Genotoxicity studies in D. melanogaster: Genotoxicity of Tryptophan and Sodium fluoride

The present study deals with the induction of mutations in D.melanogaster (Canton strain) by exposing them to various concentrations of Tryptophan and Sodium fluoride. The control flies and the flies exposed to the different concentrations of Tryptophan and Sodium fluoride were observed for phenotypic changes after 24hours and 48hours of exposure. The DNA was isolated from all the flies and the quantity and quality of the DNA were checked using Nanodrop and DNA fragmentation assay respectively. Shearing was observed in all the concentrations of Tryptophan and Sodium fluoride, by DNA fragmentation assay, which does not measure the total DNA damage. Therefore, advanced methods may be employed.