Gene transfer in Drosophila melanogaster: genetic transformations induced by the DNA of transformed stocks.

DNA prepared from transformed stocks of Drosophila melanogaster induces second-step transformations resembling the original. The gross yield of transformants induced by transformed DNA is several times higher than that induced by the original allo-DNA, but much of this high frequency is attributable to a few exceptionally large clusters of transformants among flies treated with transformed DNA. When these large clusters are omitted from the data, the frequency of transformants induced by DNA from transformed stocks is the same as that induced by allo-DNA. The data therefore support the conclusion that the original DNA-induced alterations resulted from the transfer of genetic material capable of indefinite replication.