Characterization of feline whole-blood cultures and determination of the frequency of radiation-induced dicentrics in human and feline lymphocytes.

The Ham's F-10 and PHA culture system was applied to whole feline blood and cell-cycle characteristics such as DNA synthesis and mitotic indices were studied. The results are comparable to those obtained from human whole-blood cultures. The yields of dicentrics were also determined in lymphocytes from X-irradiated human and feline blood. The ratio between the experimental yields of dicentrics in human as compared to feline lymphocytes was 1:0.27.