Mutagen specificity in the induction of chromosomal aberrations in somatic cells of Drosophila melanogaster

The distribution of chromosomal aberrations between and within chromosomes of male D. melanogaster somatic cells after treatment with UV has been analyzed. Distribution of the breaks between chromosomes was largely nonrandom since we found a higher aberration frequency than that expected on the Y chromosome. Moreover, within the chromosomes the aberrations are clustered in the pericentromeric heterochromatic regions. The above distribution is compared with that of the breaks induced by X rays and methyl methane sulphonate (MMS) which were distributed in a different pattern.