Induction of micronuclei (MN) and structural chromosomal aberrations (SCA) by physical agents such as X-rays and UV radiation has been studied extensively in a variety of cell lines for genotoxicity assessment. However, comparative data on the relationship between these two cytogenetic endpoints are limited. This study compares SCA and MN formation in V79 Chinese hamster lung cells treated with X-rays and UV radiation. Four replicate cultures of exponentially growing cells were exposed to four doses of X-rays (100-800 rads). For two replicate cultures, cytochalasin B (3 micrograms/ml) was added and cells were harvested 16 h later for MN and nuclear division index (NDI) assessment. For the remaining two replicate cultures, colcemid (0.025 micrograms/ml) was added 16 h post-treatment and cells were harvested 2 h later for SCA and mitotic index (MI) analyses. This experiment was duplicated using four doses of UV radiation (100-800 microJ x 10(2)/cm2). In the X-ray experiment, generally, a decrease in the NDI and MI was noted with increasing dose. Also, there was a clear dose-related increase in percent micronucleated binucleated (MNBN) and aberrant cells. A similar dose response, but with lower frequencies, was observed in the UV radiation treatment. These data suggest a good correlation between chromosome damage as measured by percent MNBN and aberrant cells and cytotoxicity as measured by NDI and MI.