Differential Sensitivity of Prophase Pollen Tube Chromosomes to X-rays and Ultraviolet Radiation

1. Through use of the pollen tube technique it has been possible to study the sensitivity of prophase stages to x-rays and ultraviolet, and to correlate the varying sensitivity with changes in the generative nucleus of Tradescantia. 2. Sensitivity to ultraviolet decreases from the 2 hour stage until at 11 hours after germination there is no further production of breaks. The 0 and 1 hour stages show a decreased sensitivity over the 2 hour stage but it has been suggested that this is not due to a decreased sensitivity but to shielding by the pollen wall. 3. Sensitivity to x-rays rises to a peak at the 4 hour stage, but then subsides until no breaks are realized (at a dose of 370.8 r) after the 10 hour stage. In this respect the effects of x-rays and ultraviolet are similar. Each type of x-ray break shows its own individual trend. 4. Correlation of x-ray breaks with changes in the generative nucleus indicates that the important events determining the sensitivity of the chromosomes to breakage are the uptake of water at the time of germination and the movement involved in spiralization. The total absence of breaks after the 11 hour stage is not understood. 5. The changing sensitivity to ultraviolet may depend on any one or all of three factors: (a) the nucleic acid cycle, (b) changes in the matrix, and (c) the number of subdivisions in the chromosome. These are discussed although their relative importance is not known.