Estimating the lowest detectable dose of ionizing radiation by FISH whole-chromosome painting.

Chromosome translocations are the hallmark of exposure to ionizing radiation, but they also occur spontaneously, and their frequencies increase dramatically with age. This complicates dosimetry unless a pre-exposure sample is available for each putatively exposed individual. Here we use published values for translocations in unexposed subjects from a wide range of ages, together with data from an in vitro (137)Cs dose-response curve, to estimate the minimum dose of whole-body radiation that is detectable by translocation analyses in individuals of a given age. For subjects aged 20 to 69 years, we show that the minimum detectable acute dose increases linearly with age at a rate of 0.179, 0.218 and 0.256 cGy per year for significance levels of P  =  0.05, P  =  0.01 and P  =  0.001, respectively. For chronic exposures, the corresponding minimum detectable doses are 1.591, 2.270 and 3.055 cGy per year. For newborns, the 95th and 99th percentiles of translocation frequencies are 0.20 and 0.31 per 100 cell equivalents, respectively, indicating that values greater than these are consistent with exposures at P  =  0.05 and P  =  0.01, respectively. These results improve our understanding of the requirements and limitations for performing biological dosimetry when only the age of the exposed individual is known.

Evaluation and validation of housekeeping genes in response to ionizing radiation and chemical exposure for normalizing RNA expression in real-time PCR.

Gene expression changes are used with increasing frequency to assess the effects of exposure to environmental agents. Housekeeping (Hk) genes are essential in these analyses as internal controls for normalizing expression levels evaluated with Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR). Ideal Hk genes are constitutively expressed, do not respond to external stimuli and exhibit little or no sample-to-sample or run-to-run variation. Previous studies indicate that some commonly used Hk genes including glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and beta-actin have differential expression in various cell lines. Here we examine the expression of 11 Hk genes in four normal human lymphoblastoid cell lines and one T-cell leukemia (Jurkat) cell line following exposure to graded doses of ionizing radiation or to varying ratio concentrations of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). PHA and PMA are known to have synergistic effects on the expression of some genes and have very different effects from those of radiation. There has been no systematic study performed to ascertain the best control genes for radiation and/or PHA/PMA exposures in lymphoblastoid cells. Using a two-step reverse-transcriptase RT-PCR protocol we show that following radiation doses ranging from 0 to 400 cGy, 18S rRNA, acidic ribosomal protein, beta-actin, cyclophilin, GAPDH, phosphoglycerokinase, beta-2 microglobulin (B2M), beta-glucuronidase, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase and transferrin receptor showed no significant variation in expression in normal lymphoblastoid cells. In contrast, only 18S rRNA levels were unchanged in Jurkat cells. After PHA/PMA treatment of the same normal cell lines, B2M showed no significant variation and 18S rRNA, GAPDH and transcription binding protein (TBP) were minimally responsive, whereas in Jurkat cells all these genes were unresponsive. While our results suggest that the utility of a particular Hk gene should be determined for each experimental condition, 18S rRNA and B2M appear to be excellent candidates for use as internal controls in RT-PCR in human lymphoblastoid cells because they have the most constant levels of expression across cell lines following exposure to ionizing radiation as well as to PHA/PMA.

ARE TRIOECY AND SEXUAL LABILITY IN ATRIPLEX CANESCENS GENETICALLY BASED?: EVIDENCE FROM CLONAL STUDIES.

Prior studies have alternatively considered floral phenotypes in Atriplex canescens as trioecious (having three sexual genders) and/or dioecious and having a "leaky genetical switch." Clones transplanted from three populations and grown in common gardens reveal the existence of two distinctly different genetic controls regulating gender expression. In some clones gender is fixed as male (staminate) or female (pistillate), while in other clones gender varies, ranging from a mixture of male and female ramets to simultaneous hermaphrodites with various proportions of male and female flowers. For clones which vary their sex expression, variation occurs within irrigation treatments, between treatments and over time, as a consequence of the combined effects of genotype plus environment. The magnitude of sex change is also a product of the interaction of genetics and environment. Some clones have been repeatedly examined for 20 years.