Drosophila melanogaster as an in vivo model for assessing the cytogenetic effects of low-intensity ionizing radiation
E.A. Yushkova
Section: Monitoring of natural and anthropogenically disturbed areas
The most important target of radiation damage is the cell nucleus. Structural and functional changes occurring in the nucleus under the influence of ionizing radiation affect the development of different biological effects at the cellular and organismal levels. In the present study, the Comet assay was used which makes it possible to assess the complex of DNA damage in different somatic cells of the body. The specificity of the cytogenetic effect of irradiation in low doses in Drosophila melanogaster has been established. The observed reactions depended not only on the irradiation dose and genotype but also on the type of DNA damage and tissue. In general, neuroblasts of individuals with low synthesis of cytoplasmic superoxide dismutase (sodn1/+) showed the highest sensitivity to irradiation in low doses. With an increase in the dose of ionizing radiation, the frequency of alkali-labile sites and DNA single-strand breaks in sodn1-genotype cells increased. The repair mutant genotypes, on the contrary, had radiosensitive traits exclusively at the level of DNA double-strand breaks. To a greater extent, an increase in the yield of radiation-induced DNA damage of this type was registered in cells of the imaginal disks of individuals with defect in the mechanisms of DNA double-strand break repair (okrA17-11/+), postreplicative repair, and meiotic recombination (mei-41D5/+). The genetically unstable strains used in the work have radiosensitive features which makes them convenient models for assessing the radioecological situation in the environment.
Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster, irradiation, cytogenetic effects, mutations in genes for repair and antioxidant protection
Article published in number 2 for 2024 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2024-2-057-062
ISSN 1995-4301
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