Mutational effects of γ-rays and carbon ion beams on Arabidopsis seedlings

To assess the mutational effects of radiation on vigorously proliferating plant tissue, the mutation spectrum was analyzed with Arabidopsis seedlings using the plasmid-rescue method. Transgenic plants containing the Escherichia coli rpsL gene were irradiated with gamma-rays and carbon ion beams (320-MeV C-12(6+)), and mutations in the rpsL gene were analyzed. Mutant frequency increased significantly following irradiation by gamma-rays, but not by 320-MeV C-12(6+). Mutation spectra showed that both radiations increased the frequency of frameshifts and other mutations, including deletions and insertions, but only gamma-rays increased the frequency of total base substitutions. These results suggest that the type of DNA lesions which cause base substitutions were less often induced by 320-MeV C-12(6+) than by gamma-rays in Arabidopsis seedlings. Furthermore, gamma-rays never increased the frequencies of G:C to T:A or A:T to C:G transversions, which are caused by oxidized guanine; 320-MeV C-12(6+), however, produced a slight increase in both transversions. Instead, gamma-rays produced a significant increase in the frequency of G:C to A:T transitions. These results suggest that 8-oxoguanine has little effect on mutagenesis in Arabidopsis cells.