Mutation induction by different dose rates of gamma rays in radiation-sensitive mutants of mouse leukemia cells

Induction of cell killing and mutation to 6-thioguanine resistance was examined in a radiation-sensitive mutant strain LX830 of mouse leukemia cells following gamma irradiation at dose rates of 30 Gy/h (acute), 20 cGy/h (low dose rate), and 6.2 mGy/h (very low dose rate). LX830 cells were hypersensitive to killing by acute gamma rays. A slight but significant increase was observed in cell survival with decreasing dose rate down to 6.2 mGy/h, where the survival leveled off above certain total doses. The cells were also hypersensitive to mutation induction compared to the wild type. The mutation frequency increased linearly with increasing dose for all dose rates. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of induced mutations versus total dose at the three different dose rates so that the mutation frequency in LX830 cells at 6.2 mGy/h was not significantly different from that for moderate or acute irradiation.