Abstract
VARIATION in dose-rate has generally been observed to be ineffective in determining the incidence of mutations and structural changes produced by X-rays in Drosophila spermatozoa1. However, since it is now clear that a considerable fraction of the genetic damage brought about by radiation results from an indirect path of action, intensity effects might be expected to operate under certain conditions. Chemical mutagens induced by radiation must have a finite life-span before they are removed or rendered ineffective by one or another metabolic pathway. Therefore very high dose-rates, leading to an accumulation of mutagens, should effect a greater amount of damage as a result of diffusion of the active substances to other regions within the nucleus. Sobels's observations2 that pretreatment with cyanide or azide increases the yield of sex-linked lethals obtained from irradiated Drosophila males suggests that the accumulation of chemical mutagens can be facilitated by the concurrent use of suitable enzyme inhibitors.
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References
Muller, H. J., “Radiation Biology”, edit by A. Hollaender, chapter 8 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954).
Sobels, F. H., Z. indukt. Abstammung u. Vererbl., 86, 399 (1955).
Haas, F. L., Dudgeon, Edna, Clayton, F. E., and Stone, Wilson S., Genetics, 39, 453 (1954).
Auerbach, Charlotte, Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol., 16, 199 (1952).
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CLARK, A. Genetic Effects of X-Rays in Relation to Dose-rate in Drosophila . Nature 177, 787 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177787a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177787a0
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