Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Mouse minisatellite mutations induced by ionizing radiation

Nature Genetics volume 5, pages 92–94 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

The detection of changes in germline mutation rate in human populations remains extremely difficult. Estimating the genetic hazards of radiation and other mutagens in humans therefore depends on extrapolation from experimental systems. Because of the very low frequency of spontaneous mutation at most loci, enormous samples are required to detect increases of mutation rate. A very high rate of spontaneous germline mutation altering the length of minisatellite loci has been found in human populations and therefore this system might be useful for detecting induced mutations in relatively small samples. Here we present evidence that minisatellite mutation rate in mice is increased by low doses of ionizing radiation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. UNSCEAR Ionizing radiation: sources and biological effects (United Nations, New York, 1986).

  2. Neel, J.V. Some considerations pertinent to monitoring human populations for changing mutation rates. In Well-being of Mankind and Genetics. Proc. XIV Int. Cong. Genet. 1 (ed. Vartanian, M.) 235–238 (Mir, Moscow, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dubrova, Yu, E. Principles and approaches for the determination of gene mutation rate in human populations. Genetika (Russia) 28, 5–12 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Neel, J.V. et al. Search for mutations altering protein structure and/or function in children of atomic bomb survivors: final report. Am. J. hum. Genet. 42, 663–676 (1988).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Jeffreys, A.J., Wilson, V. & Thein, S.L. Hypervariable “minisatellite” regions in human DNA. Nature 316, 67–73 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jeffreys, A.J., Turner, M. & Debenham, P. The efficiency of multi-locus DNA fingerprint probes for individualization and establishment of family relationships, determined from extensive casework. Am. J. hum. Genet. 48, 824–840 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kelly, R., Bulfield, G., Collick, A., Gibbs, M. & Jeffreys, A.J. Characterization of a highly unstable mouse minisatellite locus: evidence for somatic mutations during early development. Genomics 5, 844–856 (1989).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Russell, W.H. & Kelly, E.M. Mutation frequencies in male mice and estimation of genetic hazards of radiation in men. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 542–544 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Favor, J. Risk estimations based on germ-cell mutations in animals. Genome 31, 844–852 (1989).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Savkovic, N.V. & Lyon, M.F. Dose-response curve for X-ray-induced translations in mouse spermatogonia. Mutat. Res. 9, 407–409 (1970).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Jeffreys, A.J., Royle, N.J., Wilson, V. & Wong, Z. Spontaneous mutation rates to new length alleles at tandem-repetitive hypervariable loci in human DNA. Nature 332, 278–281 (1988).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Jeffreys, A.J., Neumann, R. & Wilson, V. Repeat unit sequence variation in minisatellites: a novel source of DNA polymorphism for studying allelic variation and mutation by single molecule analysis. Cell 60, 473–485 (1990).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Jeffreys, A.J., MacLeod, A., Tamaki, K., Neil, D.L. & Monckton, D.G. Minisatellite repeat coding as a digital approach to DNA typing. Nature 354, 204–209 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Drake, J.W. The molecular basis of mutation (Holden-Day, San Francisco, 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wong, Z., Wilson, V., Jeffreys, A.J. & Thein, S.L. Cloning a selected fragment from a human DNA “fingerprint”: isolation of an extremely polymorphic minisatellite. Nucl. Acids Res. 14, 4605–4616 (1986).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117809, GSP–1, Moscow, B–333, Russia

    Yuri E. Dubrova

  2. Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Alec J. Jeffreys

  3. Research Laboratory for Experimental Biological Models, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Alexey M. Malashenko

Authors
  1. Yuri E. Dubrova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alec J. Jeffreys
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alexey M. Malashenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dubrova, Y., Jeffreys, A. & Malashenko, A. Mouse minisatellite mutations induced by ionizing radiation. Nat Genet 5, 92–94 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0993-92

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0993-92

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing