Analysis of the ether anesthesia sensitive and resistant mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

To clarify the mechanism of anesthesics, we utilized mutants of Drosophila melanogaster which had a P-element. 1. As for the mutant para^838-2-14 of a P-element insertion in the 1st chromosome, we inferred that the cause of hypersensitivity to diethylether was the P-element insertion in the second intron of the para locus (a Na⁺ channel gene) and not the two base substitutions of the third exon of the gene. 2. We selected one ether-sensitive strain (s3754) and three ether-resistant strains (R3914, R3935, R3944) from the mutants of a P-element insertion in the 2nd or 3rd chromosome, cloned the genomic DNA fragments flanking the P-element insertion sites by plasmid rescue method and sequenced them. The 46.6%, 52.4% and 50.0% homology to the Na⁺ channel gene of para locus were found in s3754, R3914 and R3944, respectively.