Irradiation of micro-organisms with mono-energetic X-rays; biological consequences of the Auger effect

The radiation resonance effect reported previously for isolated biomolecules has now for the first time been observed in a cellular system. Dried bacteria, Micrococcus denitrificans, in which TdR in DNA was partially substituted by BUdR, were subjected to mono-energetic X-rays of energies below or above the K-edge for Br. Subsequently, the colony-forming ability was assayed. For photon energy slightly above the K-edge, the lethality/rad was greater than that below the K-edge. This is interpreted in terms of the Auger effect initiated selectively by photo-absorption in constituent Br atoms. The differential absorption of low-energy photons in constituent atoms of DNA is also discussed.