Effects of 36.6 GHz and static magnetic field on degree of endoreduplication in Drosophila melanogaster polytene chromosomes

Abstract

Purpose To study the effect of microwave (MW) irradiation and consistent action of microwaves and static magnetic field (MF) on the giant chromosomes endoreduplication in Drosophila melanogaster Meig.

Materials and methods Experiments were carried out on inbred wild type Canton-S strain. Exposure to microwaves (frequency – 36.64 GHz, power density – 1 W/m², exposure time – 30 sec) and static magnetic field (intensity – 25 mT, exposure time – 5 min) applied at the egg stage after a 2-h oviposition. Giant chromosomes were investigated in squashed preparations of the salivary glands stained by acetoorcein by the cytomorphometric method. Preparations were obtained from Drosophila larvae at the 0 h prepupae stage.

Results Exposure to microwaves increased the degree of polyteny in chromosomes (DPC) by 7.5%, and the statistical power of the impact was: h² = 35.3%. A similar effect occurred after the sequential action of microwaves and static magnetic field: The polyteny level of chromosomes increased by 7.4%, statistical power was: h² = 30.6%.

Conclusions Exposure to microwaves on the stage of embryogenesis has a stimulating effect on endoreduplication in Drosophila development. The effect of microwaves was not modified by the action of the static magnetic field.

Keywords:

• Chromatin
• giant chromosomes
• degree of polyteny
• cell cycle effects
• non-ionizing radiations

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Nicolay N. Kolchigin, the Head of Department of Theoretic Radiophysics, Kharkov National University, for assistance and advices in the field of radio technique.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Funding information

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (Project State registration number: 0112U008334).