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. 2014 May 5;12(4):551-81.
doi: 10.2203/dose-response.13-047.Antosh. eCollection 2014 Dec.

Drosophila melanogaster show a threshold effect in response to radiation

Michael Antosh  1 , David Fox  1 , Thomas Hasselbacher  1 , Robert Lanou  2 , Nicola Neretti  3 , Leon N Cooper  4
Affiliations

Drosophila melanogaster show a threshold effect in response to radiation

Michael Antosh et al. Dose Response. .

Abstract

We investigate the biological effects of radiation using adult Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, focusing on gene expression and lifespan analysis to determine the effect of different radiation doses. Our results support a threshold effect in response to radiation: no effect on lifespan and no permanent effect on gene expression is seen at incident radiation levels below 100 J/kg. We also find that it is more appropriate to compare radiation effects in flies using the absorbed energy rather than incident radiation levels.

Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; gene expression; low dose radiation; threshold effect.

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Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Excess Solid Cancer Risk vs. Radiation Dose, redrawn from original figure published in (U.S. National Research Council Committee to Assess Health Risks from Exposure to Low Level of Ionizing Radiation 2006). Note 1 Sv = 1 Gy.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Survivorship curves for the demography experiment. Incident radiation levels less than or equal to 50 J/kg show no statistically significant differences from control; incident radiation levels greater than or equal to 100 J/kg show a statistically significant difference from control.
FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 3.
Comparison of demography data with Baxter and Blair (1967a) suggests absorbed dose as a more appropriate measure of radiation than incident radiation level. The demography experiment featured in the results section is referred to as replicate 1 and the second experiment is referred to as replicate 2. (A) Comparison of incident radiation level. (B) Comparison of absorbed dose. (C) Data from (B), with log of absorbed dose shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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