Radiosensitivity During Spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

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Abstract
Males carrying the dominant Bar (BS) marker on the Y chromosome are X-rayed (800r) and then mated afresh to virgin Bar-reverted B+asc (modified Muller-5) females on each of the 12 days following irradiation. Assuming that this brood order reflects inversely the sequence and duration of the individual stages in sperm formation, the experimental method permits simultaneous detection of sex-linked recessive lethals, sex chromosome loss and primary nondisjunction of the sex chromosomes induced in male germ cells which were at different points in the maturation cycle at the time of irradiation. If the onset of induced primary non-disjunc-tion is accepted as a criterion of irradiated primary spermatocytes, the results confirm earlier findings that hypersensitivity to the induction of sex-linked recessive lethals occurs in the post-meiotic spermatid stage while peak sensitivity for sex-chromosome loss occurs in spermatocytes.