A mutational analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans in space.
The International Caenorhabditis elegans Experiment First Flight (ICE-First) was a project using C. elegans as a model organism to study the biological effects of short duration spaceflight (11 days in the International Space Station). As a member of the ICE-First research team, our group focused on the mutational effects of spaceflight. Several approaches were taken to measure mutational changes that occurred during the spaceflight including measurement of the integrity of poly-G/poly-C tracts, determination of the mutation frequency in the unc-22 gene, analysis of lethal mutations captured by the genetic balancer eT1(III;V), and identification of alterations in telomere length. By comparing the efficiency, sensitivity, and convenience of these methods, we deduced that the eT1 balancer system is well-suited for capturing, maintaining and recovering mutational events that occur over several generations during spaceflight. In the course of this experiment, we have extended the usefulness of the eT1 balancer system by identifying the physical breakpoints of the eT1 translocation and have developed a PCR assay to follow the eT1 chromosomes. C. elegans animals were grown in a defined liquid media during the spaceflight. This is the first analysis of genetic changes in C. elegans grown in the defined media. Although no significant difference in mutation rate was detected between spaceflight and control samples, which is not surprising given the short duration of the spaceflight, we demonstrate here the utility of worms as an integrating biological dosimeter for spaceflight.
Zhao
Yang
Y
Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Life Sciences Centre, Room 1364-2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Lai
Kenneth
K
Cheung
Iris
I
Youds
Jillian
J
Tarailo
Maja
M
Tarailo
Sanja
S
Rose
Ann
A
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003359:Cosmic Radiation / Q000009:adverse effects; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis / Q000379:methods; D005804:Genes, Lethal / Q000235:genetics; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects; D011066:Poly C / Q000235:genetics; D011068:Poly G / Q000235:genetics; D013026:Space Flight; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics; D014178:Translocation, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; C489233:unc-22 protein, C elegans; D011068:Poly G; C008961:poly G-poly C; D011066:Poly C