Chromosome aberrations and dominant lethals in Culex fatigans due to mercuric chloride.

The mosquito, Culex fatigans, was used for determining the possible mutagenic potential of mercuric chloride, using chromosome aberrations and frequency of dominant lethals as the parameters. As many as 27.75 +/- 0.85% aberrations against 2.75 +/- 0.35% (P less than 0.001) in the controls were observed in the chromosomes of the animals treated with 0.001 microgram/ml of mercuric chloride. Similarly the frequency of dominant lethals was statistically significant in the treated lot. The results indicate that this compound is genotoxic.