Bystander effects in unicellular organisms

Radiation-induced bystander effects have been seen in mammalian cells from diverse origins. These effects can be transmitted through the medium to cells not present at the time of irradiation. We have developed an assay for detecting bystander effects in the unicellular eukaryote, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This assay allows maximal exposure of unirradiated cells to cells that have received electron beam irradiation. S. pombe cells were irradiated with 16-18 MeV electrons from a pulsed electron LINAC. When survival of the irradiated cells decreased to approximately 50%, forward-mutation to 2-deoxy-d-glucose resistance increased in the unirradiated bystander cells. Further increase in dose had no additional effect on this increase. In order to detect this response, it was necessary for the irradiated cell/unirradiated cell ratio to be high. Other cellular stresses, such as heat treatment, UV irradiation, and bleomycin exposure, also caused a detectable response in untreated cells grown with the treated cells. We discuss evolutionary implications of these results.