GENETIC ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS IN HYDRA I. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION OF HYDRA MAGNIPAPILLATA AND ISOLATION OF MUTANTS

Hydra magnipapillata strains collected from various localities in Japan were induced to reproduce sexually. From the survival data of the progeny, it was calculated that H. magnipapillata contained an average of between 3.5 and 4.0 lethal equivalent units of recessive deleterious genes per gamate (between 7.0 and 8.0 per animal). Various types of developmental mutants were found among the offspring of crosses made between strains isolated from the same ponds. The mutant types isolated included mini strains, maxi strains, multi-headed strains, nematocyst-deficient strains, regeneration-deficient strains and male sterile strains. The characters of these strains were stably transmissible to the successive progeny produced by budding. These strains therefore were propagated by budding and maintained as clonal lines to be used later for developmental studies.