title: High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl.
abstract: Base-pair substitution rates for the mitochondrial cytochrome beta gene of free-living, native populations of voles collected next to reactor 4 at Chernobyl, Ukraine, were estimated by two independent methods to be in excess of 10(-4) nucleotides per site per generation. These estimates are hundreds of times greater than those typically found in mitochondria of vertebrates, suggesting that the environment resulting from this nuclear power plant disaster is having a measurable genetic impact on the organisms of that region. Despite these DNA changes, vole populations thrive and reproduce in the radioactive regions around the Chernobyl reactor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 79409, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Van Den Bussche
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Reat
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lomakin
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Chesser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000235:genetics*; D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000235:genetics; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011210:Power Plants; D011247:Pregnancy; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D014455:Ukraine
chemical_list: D003573:Cytochrome b Group