[Mechanism of formation of chromatid exchanges]

Chinese hamster cells with different patterns of distribution of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) between chromosome subunits were subjected, during the G2 stage, to UV irradiation, which only produced breaks in BrdUrd substituted DNA. The frequency of chromatid and subchromatid interchanges as well as isochromatid aberrations was estimated. It was found that only BrdUrd containing chromatids were involved into aberrations; this result challenges the so called "molecular theory" for aberration production proposed by Leenhouts and Chadwick. A very small increase of the aberration yield in chromosomes without BrdUrd may be connected with the action of UV on the frequency of recombination. The observed frequency of interchanges was not proportional to the BrdUrd content in chromosomes and depended on the time of its incorporation: more exchanges were induced in the chromatids incorporating BrdUrd during the last round of replication. These regularities may be connected with some molecular peculiarities of chromosome structure and function.