Effects of environmental mutagenic factors on recombination in 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 muitagens in discharges of thermoelectric power stations.