X-ray quality and the induction of meiotic recombination in Drosophila melanogaster males.

This paper reports a set of experiments designed to determine whether the radiation-quality effect, reported for the induction of somatic recombination, could be also demonstrated for meiotic recombination. Males heterozygous for markers on the 2nd chromosome were given an exposure of 600 R with either 55 kV or 100 kV X-irradiation. Treated spermatocytes were sampled by irradiating young pupae and then taking the first day sperm from the emergent adult males. When 2-h old pupae were irradiated there were significantly fewer centric and more non-centric recombinants, than when 4--6 h old pupae were irradiated. No radiation-quality effect was found.