Response of Aspergillus nidulans and Physarum polycephalum to microwave irradiation

The influence of microwaves on genetic processes in Aspergillus nidulans and Physarum polycephalum was investigated. Suspensions of organisms were exposed in the far zone to 2450-MHz waves at 10 mW/cm2 for one hour in both CW and pulsed (1 microsecond, 600 pps) fields. Spores of A. nidulans were irradiated before and during germination. No changes in survival rate or in frequency of morphological mutation were found. Polycephalum under the influence of CW microwaves incorporated 3H-Thymine into DNA at a rate five times that of controls and twice that of thermal controls. The accelerated synthesis may reflect more efficient volume heating by microwaves, or in the presence of microthermal gradients in suspensions, or field-specific influences in concern with focal or volume heating.