Somatic resistance to X‐ray treatment in Drosophila melanogaster populations with different irradiation backgrounds

Abstract

First instar larvae from four wild‐type populations of Drosophilu melanogaster were subjected to X‐ray irradiation and the frequency of the eclosion was registered. All populations descended from an originally isogenic line. After irradiation, survival was highest among individuals from the population which had been irradiated at larval stage during many generations, and in a branch of this population which during the course of a year was not subjected to irradiation. The difference in survival between populations was most conspicuous at higher doses. © 1973 Mendelian Society of Lund