Effect of Laser Radiation on the Phenotypic Mutations of Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera:Drosophilidae)

Abstract

This study was conducted to find out the effect of 5 periods of exposure to laser rays (0,15,10,5,20) minutes on the phenotypic mutations of Drosophila melanogaster, as well as calculating the percentage of mortality and the percentage of larval failure. The results showed that laser beams had significant effects in causing mutations, especially in the 15-minute period, which amounted to 0.33 and thus formed significant differences compared to the control group. The periods of exposure to laser rays also caused clear effects in the rate of larval mortality, as the death rate was 100% for the period of 20 minutes, while this rate decreased to 27% and 34% for the periods 5 and 10 minutes, respectively, while the lowest failure rate was 0% at the period 20, which led to the death of all the larvae.