The cytotoxic and mutagenic effect of X-irradiation was determined with Chinese hamster ovary cells arrested in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle through 9 days incubation in serum-free medium. In comparison with exponential phase cultures, the arrested cells showed increased cytotoxicity and mutation induction over the dose range of 50-800 rad. Exponential cultures showed a linear mutant frequency-survival relationship while the arrested cells showed a biphasic linear relationship. A post irradiation holding period of 24 h does not result in any change in the mutant frequency. The increased sensitivity of the arrested cells to the mutagenic effects of X-rays appears to be a cell-cycle phase phenomenon. Upon readdition of serum, the arrested cells re-enter the cell cycle in a synchronous manner, reaching S phase at 10-12 h. Cells irradiated at 5 h after serum addition, i.e. in G1, show a similar dose response for mutant frequency, while those irradiated at 10 h or later, i.e. in late G1, S or G2, show lower mutation induction. These observations are consistent with a chromosome interchange mechanism of mutation induction by X-rays, possibly through interactions between repairing regions of the DNA. Irradiation of cells in the G0/G1 phase allow more time for such interactions in the absence of semiconservative DNA replication.