Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Institutes of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, China.
J Radiat Res. 2010;51(6):651-6. doi: 10.1269/jrr.10037.
The mutagenic effects of low-energy ions have been identified by genetic studies for decades. Due to the short penetration distance of ions, however, the underlying mechanism(s) is still not quite clarified. Recently, increasing data have been accumulated concerning the existence and manifestation of radiation induced bystander/abscopal effects in vivo in the whole-organism environment. In this study, the bio-effects and the preliminary mechanisms of low energy ion beam irradiation on Medicago truncatula were investigated. The results show that both development and biochemical parameters, such as seed germination, seedling, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) were significantly affected by ion beam irradiation. It was also found that ion beam irradiation significantly increased the ROS generation and DNA strand breaks in Medicago truncatula. To further investigate the mechanism(s) underlying the responses, seeds were treated with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an effective reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, and the results showed that DMSO treatment effectively rescued the seed germination and seedling rates and the morphological parameters of development, suggesting that ROS might play an essential role in the mechanisms of the bio-effects of ion-beam irradiated Medicago truncatula.
几十年来，低能离子的诱变效应已通过遗传研究得到证实。然而，由于离子的穿透距离较短，其潜在机制仍未完全阐明。最近，越来越多的数据积累表明，在整个生物体环境中，存在并表现出辐射诱导的旁观者/远隔效应。在这项研究中，研究了低能离子束辐照对蒺藜苜蓿的生物效应和初步机制。结果表明，离子束辐照对种子发芽、幼苗、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和过氧化物酶（POD）等发育和生化参数均有显著影响。还发现离子束辐照显著增加了蒺藜苜蓿中的 ROS 生成和 DNA 链断裂。为了进一步探讨这些反应的机制，用二甲基亚砜（DMSO）处理种子，DMSO 是一种有效的活性氧（ROS）清除剂，结果表明，DMSO 处理有效地挽救了种子发芽率和幼苗率以及发育的形态参数，表明 ROS 可能在离子束辐照蒺藜苜蓿的生物效应机制中发挥重要作用。
