ABSTRACT
The results of the genetic, cytogenetic and molecular analysis of the nature of heritable recessive mutations at the small black (b) gene of Drosophila melanogaster induced by different doses (5-10 Gy) of 60Co gamma-rays and 0.85 MeV fission neutrons in the mature sperms of the wild-type males from the laboratory line D32 are presented. The whole spectrum of the b mutations induced by radiation of different quality is found to be the same and consists of the two main classes such as gene/point and gene/chromosome mutations, the latter of which include the whole-genomic, infra- or inter-chromosomal rearrangements involving the b gene. The induction rate of both mutation classes is found to be increased linearly with a dose of low- and high-LET radiation and the effectiveness of neutrons is 2.7 and 4.6 as large as that of gamma-rays under the gene/point and gene/chromosome mutation induction, respectively. Essentially, the molecular alterations underlying 65 gamma-ray- and neutron-induced gene/point b mutations are found not to be detected by the PCR technique. These and other established features of the b gene radiomutability are drastically different from those of another larger vestigial gene described earlier. The nature of these differences is discussed within the framework of the current notion of different biological organization of the two genes mentioned above and of the track structure theory as well.
