Studies on radiosensitive lines of Drosophila. X. Effect of 0.8 MeV neutrons from reactor on the survival and frequency of dominant lethals in mutant line rad(2)201/sup G1/

The frequency of dominant lethal mutations (DLM) was studied in the females of the radiosensitive mutant line rad(2)201/sup G1/ following exposure to different doses of neutrons at various stages of oogenesis. Survival of pupae after irradiation of larvae was also studied. It has been demonstrated that in respect of DLM induction, the differential sensitivity of oocytes to the action of neutrons in the control (nonmutated) line is similar to that of gamma-ray treatment. The sensitivity of oocytes at the 7th and earlier stages is higher in the mutant females than in control line. The analysis of relative biological efficiency (RBE) of the neutrons showed that they are more effective in the control line as compared to the mutant line, in respect of survival as well as frequency of DLM induction. The RBE of neutrons depended on the stage of oocyte development: the highest RBE was observed in immature sex cells of females. The possible mechanisms of higher sensitivity of mutant line rad(2)201/sup G1/ to the action of ionizing radiation are discussed