Diagrammatic representation for chromosomal mutagenesis studies. III. Radiation-induced rearrangements in Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee).

A qualitative study is presented of chromosomal rearrangements induced by gamma-irradiation at 2 Gy and 3 Gy in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes. From a sample of 460 cells, karyotyped after R-banding, 1047 rearrangements were detected. Each type of rearrangement is analyzed according to the diagrammatic method previously developed. The non-random nature of the induction of the rearrangements is clear. The chimpanzee seems highly sensitive to the induction of dicentrics. This may be related to the existence, in its karyotype, of sensitive juxta-telomeric heterochromatin, much more frequently affected in the case of formation of dicentrics than of other types of rearrangements. Thus, the evaluation of radiation sensitivity of a given species based only on the yield of dicentrics may not have a general value for chromosomal mutagenesis.