Experiments with Drosophila on board the spacecraft Zond-5.
A container with 257 eggs of Drosophila melanogaster of the D-32 line, which is characterized by a very low spontaneous mutability, was placed on board Zond-5. The results of two tests on the frequency of lethal recessive point mutations: a) sex-linked and b) autosomal (in the second chromosome) were studied. A significant increase in the frequency of lethals in the X-chromosome of males, presumably caused by the influence of earth conditions after the return of the spacecraft, was found. No substantial increase of such mutations in the X-chromosome of females was found, but a substantial increase in the frequency of autosomal recessive lethals was discovered. Possible explanations of the causes of these events are discussed.
Glembozky
J L
JL
Academy of Sciences, USSR.
Grozdova
T J
TJ
Parfenov
G P
GP
D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D007814:Larva; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness; D014960:X Chromosome