Biological effects induced by swift heavy ions of lithium on aqueous solution of plasmid pMTa4

• Published in: Radiation effects and defects in solids 2003-08, Vol.158 (8), p.603-607
• Main Authors: Humtsoe, J. O., Schneeweiss, F. H. A., Srivastava, A., Sarma, A., Sharan, R. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 7li Ion; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; In Vitro; Medical sciences; Metals and various inorganic compounds; Nucleotide Sequence; Pmta4 Plasmid Dna; Restriction Endonuclease; Toxicology
• ISSN: 1042-0150; 1029-4953
• DOI: 10.1080/1042015031000116096

Biological samples exposed to swift heavy ions sustain damage on different components. Damage to DNA, a critical component of a living system, has considerable biological implications. In this study aqueous solution of plasmid pMTa4 was exposed to varying fluence of swift 7 Li ions and its different topological forms were analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis to study the induced damage. To monitor radiation labile nucleotide sequence the 7 Li ions exposed plasmid was degraded by three different restriction endonucleases and also analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The results show that 7 Li ions predominantly induced double strand breaks in the plasmid DNA in a dose-dependent manner and affected preferentially the GC-rich motifs of the DNA. The results suggest that 7 Li ions induce premutagenic lesions at an enhanced frequency in segments of the DNA which are rich in CG content as compared to GC-poor segments.