[Recombination in Drosophila melanogaster males exposed at a thermoelectric power plant]

For four years, genetic recombination was studied in Drosophila melanogaster males kept at a thermoelectric power station (TPS) in Moscow; a TPS located in another city district was taken for comparison in 1994. It was found that, in the experimental males, recombination frequency was two- to threefold higher than in the control flies. Temporal variations in recombination frequency during four years were not statistically significant. The data obtained at the two TPSs also did not significantly differ from each other. The considerable increase of the recombination frequency in Drosophila kept at the TPS may be considered an appropriate response to exposure to effective mutagens that were abundant in the TPS discharges.