Targeted Heavy-Ion Microbeam Irradiation of the Embryo But Not Yolk in the Diapause-Terminated Egg of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori, Induces The Somatic Mutation

Using heavy-ion microbeam, we report target irradiation of selected compartments within the diapause-terminated egg and its mutational consequences in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. On one hand, carbon-ion exposure of embryo to 0.5-6 Gy increased the somatic mutation frequency, suggesting targeted radiation effects. On the other, such increases were not observed when yolk was targeted, suggesting a lack of nontargeted bystander effect.