Ultraviolet light sensitive mutants of Coprinus lagopus. I. Isolation and characterization

4UV-sensitive mutants have been isolated from the wild type strain BC9/66 of Coprinus lagopus by following a new replica plating technique. Complementation and recombination studies between these mutants suggest 3 gene loci uvs1, uvs2 and uvs3, two of the mutants being allelic (uvs3-1 and uvs3-2). The mutants uvs2, uvs3-1 and uvs3-2 show photoreactivation whereas the mutant uvs1 appears to be deficient in this respect. None of the mutants of the wild type showed significant recovery after dark holding.     

Repair mechanisms involved in prophage reactivation and UV reactivation of UV-irradiated phage lambda

Survival of UV-irradiated phage λ is increased when the host is lysogenic for a homologous heteroimmune prophage such as λimm434 (prophage reactivation). Survival can also be increased by UV-irradiating slightly the non-lysogenic host (UV reactivation).Experiments on prophage reactivation were aimed at evaluating, in this recombination process, the respective roles of phage and bacterial genes as well as that of the extent of homology between phage and prophage.To test whether UV reactivation was dependent upon recombination between the UV-damaged phage and cellular DNAs, lysogenic host cells were employed. Such hosts had thus as much DNA homologous to the infecting phage as can be attained. Therefore, if recombination between phage and host DNAs was involved in this repair process, it could clearly be evidenced.By using unexposed or UV-exposed host cells of the same type, prophage reactivation and UV reactivation could be compared in the same genetic background.The following results were obtained: (1) Prophage reactivation is strongly decreased in a host carrying recA mutations but quite unaffected by mutation lex-I known to prevent UV reactivation; (2) In the absence of the recA⁺ function, the red⁺ but not the int⁺ function can substitute for recA⁺ to produce prophage reactivation, although less efficiently; (3) Prophage reactivation is dependent upon the number of prophages in the cell and upon their degree of homology to the infecting phage. The presence in a recA host of two prophages either in cis (on the chromosome) or in trans (on the chromosome and on an episome) increases the efficiency of prophage reactivation; (4) Upon prophage reactivation there is a high rate of recombination between phage and prophage but no phage mutagenesis; (5) The rate of recombination between phage and prophage decreases if the host has been UV-irradiated whereas the overall efficiency of repair is increased. Under these conditions UV reactivation of the phage occurs as in a non-lysogen, as attested by the high rate of mutagenesis of the restored phage.These results demonstrate that UV reactivation is certainty not dependent upon recombination between two pre-existing DNA duplexes. The hypothesis is offered that UV reactivation involves a repair mechanism different from excision and recombination repair processes.     

Dose-response data for X-ray induced translocations in spermatogonia of rhesus monkeys

The yields of translocations in spermatocytes after irradiation of spermatogonia of Rhesus monkeys with doses of 100, 200 or 300 rad X-rays were low, and consistent with a humped dose-response curve with a peak at about 200 rad. Such a curve would agree well with earlier results on the marmoset and man, but the yields at any dose in the Rhesus monkey were lower.     

Induction of translocations in mouse spermatogonia after fractionated exposure to 60Co gamma-rays

Male mice of the Q strain were exposed to 60Co gamma-rays at 2 Gy and 2 X 2 Gy separated by increasing time intervals (from 0 min to 4 min). The chromosome translocations induced in spermatogonia were scored at diakinesis-metaphase I. A significant decrease of the translocation frequency at time intervals higher than 2 min was observed, confirming results obtained with plant materials.     

Relative biological effectiveness of x-rays and fast neutrons in inducing translocations in mouse spermatogonia

The dose-response relationships for inducing translocations in the spermatogonia of mice were studied, and they were compared for 200 kVp X-rays and 2 MeV fast neutrons. The dose response for fast neutrons was markedly convex; more precisely, the response obtained was linear in the dose range from 24 to 94 rad with a regression coefficient of 11.36·10^?4, but decreased for a further increase in dose up to 267 rad. On the other hand, that for X-rays showed a linear dose-response relationship from 48 to 672 rad with a regression coefficient of 2.69·10^?4. The relative biological effectiveness for inducing translocations in the spermatogonia of mice was compared for the linear parts of the dose response in both types of radiation, and the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) value was 4.22.     

Evidence of a threshold x-ray dose for sensitizing stem-cell spermatogonia of the mouse to the induction of chromosomal translocations by a second larger one

The effect of different small conditioning doses of X-rays on the production of reciprocal translocations in stem-cell spermatogonia of the mouse (scored in spermatocytes) by a second larger dose have been examined. Fractionation regimes of 25 + 975 R, 50 + 950 R, 75 + 925 R and 100 + 900 R, all with 24 h between the fractions, were applied. The size of the first fraction strongly affected the frequency of induced translocations by the second one, and a kind of threshold dose, somewhere between 75 and 100 R existed for conditioning the spermatogonial population: the translocation yield after 25 + 975 R was 3.3 %, after 50 + 950 R it was 5.0%, and after 75 + 925 R it was 5.1%; whereas 100 + 900 R resulted in 16.1% translocations. It is difficult to explain this observed threshold effect by known biological processes so far held responsible for the conditioning effect.     

The effects of the time interval in fractionated x-ray treatment of mouse spermatogonia

Male CBA strain mice were submitted to fractionated radiation treatment of spermatogonia. Effects of doses of 300 R + 300 R, 400 R + 400 R and 500 R + 500 R with time intervals of 24, 48, 72 and 144 h between irradiations were studied.     

X-ray induced translocations in spermatogonia. I. Dose and fractionation responses in mice

The frequency of recirprocal translocations, inducedm by X-irradiation of mouse spermatogonial cells and observed at diakinesis-metaphase I in primary spermatocytes, was measured over a dose range of 0–1200 R. The resulting dose-response curve gave a best fit to the model Y = bD+CD² over the range of 0–500 R. Above 600 R, howeverm, the yeild of translocations decreased with increasing dose, leadiong to a “humped” dose-response curve over the whole dose range studied, as has been observed by several worker previously.The significance of the nonlinear dose-response curve over the lower dose range is discussed in terms of the known fractionation and dose-rate effects for reciprocal translocations induced in spermatogonia.A dose of 800 R was split into two 400-R fractions separated by 8 weeks, or one of 1200 R into three equal parts, each separated by an 8-week interval. The resulting yield of translocations was the same as the sum of two, or three, separate 400-dose doses, but was much higher than a single dose of 800 R or 1200 R.It is suggested that these results, namely the shape of the dose-response curve and the “reverse” fractionation effect, can be explained in terms of resistant and sensitive stem-cell populations, but that any one cell can be in either population, depending upon the stage of the cell cycle in which it is at the time of irradiation.     

Studies on the induction of translocations in mouse spermatogonia. IV. Effects of acute gamma-irradiation

The rate of induction of reciprocal translocations by 56–816 R exposures of mouse spermatogonia to acute γ-irradiation (95 R/min) was determined by cytological examination of descendant spermatocytes. The dose-response relationship did not differ significantly from linearity and had a regression coefficient of 1.8·10⁻⁴ per R with respect to translocations per spermatocyte. Further analysis at exposures below 816 R (considered less likely to produce distortion) showed that the quadratic regression of best fit had too small a square-law component to account for the very low frequency of translocations obtained after chronic γ-exposures in a previous experiment. The possibility is discussed that there is some extra factor, besides the diminution of the square-law component, which operates to reduce the yield after protracted exposures.     

Antimutagenic properties of selected radioprotective drug mixtures with regard to X-ray-induced reciprocal translocations in mouse spermatogonia

The radioprotective drugs AET, serotonin, and ATP were tested for antimutagenic activity against induction by 4.0 Gy X-rays of reciprocal translocations in mouse spermatogonia. Single drugs administered in doses of 8, 24 and 360 mg/kg b.wt., respectively, had no effect on translocation yields recorded in diakinesis-metaphase I spermatocytes. Two-drug mixtures afforded insignificant protection. Three-drug mixtures, however, were found to reduce radiation damage considerably, and the extent of protection was dependent in part on the amount of ATP. The best effect was obtained with formulations of serotonin-AET-ATP at the following doses, respectively: 8 + 24 + 360 mg/kg, 16 + 24 + 336 mg/kg, and 16 + 32 + 264 mg/kg. Less effective were the serotonin-AET-ATP formulations: 16 + 32 + 120 mg/kg, and 8 + 24 + 480 mg/kg. Treatment with drugs omitting radiation exposure was observed to raise, though insignificantly, the level of spontaneous translocation frequency.     

Chromosomal rearrangements induced in mouse spermatogonia by 14.5-MeV neutrons

Inbred CBA male mice were irradiated with 14.5-MeV neutrons. Three acute doses, 75, 150 and 250 rad, and one chronic dose, 250 rad, were given. The percentages of affected spermatocytes as counted from reciprocal translocations which had been induced in spermatogonia were 0.7, 0.8 and 1.6 respectively for the acute series and 2.2 after chronic exposure. The data could be fitted to a linear or concave curvilinear regression line. There seemed to be a slight increase of damage with dose, even if the percentages were generally lower than those reported earlier for fast neutrons with energies around 1 MeV. The existence of dose-rate effects is discussed, and the conclusion drawn so far is that there seems to be no such effect either for 1-MeV fast neutrons or 14.5-MeV high energy neutrons. The term “reversed dose-rate effect”, as used earlier, relates to another phenomenon. The difference between the point estimates for the chronic and acute 250 rad series is not significant. The effectiveness of neutrons with energies around 14 MeV versus neutrons with energies around 1 MeV is discussed.