Increased Frequency of Copy Number Variations Revealed by Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization in the Offspring of
Keiji Ogura1, Yoshiko Ayabe1, Chihiro Harada2
1Department of Radiobiology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Aomori 039-3213, Japan.
Abstract:
There is very little information on the transgenerational or genetic effects of low dose-rate ionizing radiation. We report the detection of the transgenerational effects of chronic low dose-rate irradiation in mice, at the molecular level in the whole genome, using array comparative genomic hybridization technology. We observed that the number of the mice with de novo copy number variations (specifically, deletions) was significantly increased in the offspring of C57BL/6J male mice exposed to 20 mGy/day gamma-rays for 400 days (total dose: 8000 mGy), as compared to non-irradiated controls. We did not detect any difference in the size of the de novo deletions between the irradiated and the non-irradiated groups. An analysis of the life span of the offspring suggested a possibility that de novo copy-number variations may be associated with shorter life spans.
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