title: Variation of RBE between p(75) + Be and d(50) + Be neutrons determined for chromosome aberrations in Allium cepa.
abstract: The RBE of p(75) + Be neutrons relative to d(50) + Be neutrons has been determined for chromosome aberrations induced in Allium cepa (onion) roots. Two biological criteria were selected: the average number of aberrations (mainly fragments) per cell in anaphase and telophase, and the percentage of aberration-free cells. The influence of sampling time (3 to 7 h incubation) between irradiation and fixation was investigated systematically. This factor did not significantly influence the results. The RBE values of p(75) + Be neutrons compared to those of d(50) + Be neutrons were 0.85 (0.79-0.91) and 0.87 (0.80-0.95) for the first and the second criteria, respectively. In previous experiments for the same beams, we found an RBE of 0.90 (0.86-0.94) for survival of V79 cells (D0 ratio), 0.96 (0.93-0.99) for the intestinal crypt cell system, and 0.83 (0.70-0.96) for Vicia faba growth delay.
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beauduin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laublin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Octave-Prignot
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gueulette
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wambersie
mesh_terms: D000490:Allium / Q000528:radiation effects; D001608:Beryllium; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D003903:Deuterium; D009502:Neutrons; D011522:Protons; D011831:Radiation Genetics; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D003903:Deuterium; D001608:Beryllium