[Multiyear monitoring of the ecological status of industrial zones of Moscow using a test line of Drosophila melanogaster]. / Mnogoletnii monitoring za ékologicheskim sostoianiem promzony g. Moskvy s primeneniem test-linii Drosophila melanogaster.

For 12 years, recombination rate was assessed in Drosophila melanogaster males exposed on a thermoelectric power station (TPS) of Moscow. In 1994, experiments were also carried out on another Moscow TPS for comparison. The recombination frequency in exposed males was two- or threefold higher than in the control sample. Recombination frequencies observed in different years did not significantly differ from each other. Likewise, no significant difference was observed for the results obtained on two TPSs. A dramatic increase in recombination frequency in flies exposed on TPS was considered as an adequate response to high concentrations of effective mutagens discharged by TPS.

[The effect of mutagenic environmental factors on recombination in Drosophila melanogaster]. / Vliianie mutagennykh faktorov sredy na rekombinatsiiu u Drosophila melanogaster.

We studied recombination in Drosophila melanogaster males exposed in a thermoelectric power station in Moscow for six years and, for comparison, in another thermoelectric power station during 1994. The frequency of recombination in the experimental males was two to three times that in the control. The annual differences in the frequency of recombination in the experimental males were not statistically significant. The differences between the data obtained for two different thermoelectric power stations were not statistically significant as well. A marked increase in the frequency of recombination in the D. melanogaster males exposed at thermoelectric power stations may be considered as an adequate reaction to the presence of a sufficient amount of effective mutagens in discharges of thermoelectric power stations.

[Recombination in Drosophila melanogaster males exposed at a thermoelectric power plant]. / Rekombinatsiia u samtsov Drosophila melanogaster, éksponirovannykh na TES.

For four years, genetic recombination was studied in Drosophila melanogaster males kept at a thermoelectric power station (TPS) in Moscow; a TPS located in another city district was taken for comparison in 1994. It was found that, in the experimental males, recombination frequency was two- to threefold higher than in the control flies. Temporal variations in recombination frequency during four years were not statistically significant. The data obtained at the two TPSs also did not significantly differ from each other. The considerable increase of the recombination frequency in Drosophila kept at the TPS may be considered an appropriate response to exposure to effective mutagens that were abundant in the TPS discharges.

[Recombination in Drosophila in space flight]. / Rekombinatsiia u drozofily v usloviiakh kosmicheskogo poleta.

An experiment with Drosophila melanogaster males was performed aboard the Artificial Satellite "Kosmos-1667". Mutagenic effects of a 7-day space flight on intergene recombination in chromosome 2 were studied. The space flight factors decreased the frequency of recombination. A model experiment on a laboratory centrifuge demonstrated insignificant increase in recombination frequency caused by acceleration.

[Frequency of chromosome recombination, nondisjunction and breaks in Drosophila melanogaster males exposed during space flight]. / Chastota rekombinatsii, neraskhozhdeniia i razryvov khromosom u samtsov Drosophila melanogaster, éksponirovannykh v orbital'nom polete.

Effects of space flight factors on chromosomal nondisjunctions, breaks and mitotic recombination in Drosophila melanogaster males were studied. It was shown that space flight conditions increased the frequencies of nondisjunctions, breaks and mitotic recombination in chromosomes. It was established that the vibration and acceleration effects could not serve to explain the data obtained. On the basis of these data, it may be suggested that weightlessness and cosmic radiation are the main factors which are responsible for the effects observed.

Some results of the effect of space flight factors on Drosophila melanogaster.

Two experiments with Drosophila melanogaster males were performed aboard the Salyut 6 orbital station. Mutagenic effects of a 8 day space flight on sex chromosome nondisjunction and intergene recombination in chromosome II were studied. The space flight factors (SFF) increased the frequency of chromosome nondisjunction and recombination. The model experiments showed that the combined effects of vibration and acceleration do not cover the whole spectrum of space flight mutagenic factors. These data suggest that heavy space ions are mainly responsible for the observed effect.