title: Effects of chronic gamma irradiation: a multigenerational study using Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: The effects of chronic exposure to (137)Cs gamma radiation (dose rate ranging from 6.6 to 42.7 mGy h(-1)) on growth and reproductive ability were carried out over three generations of Caenorhabditis elegans (F0, F1, and F2). Exposure began at the egg stage for the first generation and was stopped at the end of laying of third-generation eggs (F2). At the same time, the two subsequent generations from parental exposure were returned to the control conditions (F1' and F2'). There was no radiation-induced significant effect on growth, hatchability, and cumulative number of larvae within generations. Moreover, no significant differences were found in growth parameters (hatching length, maximal length, and a constant related to growth rate) among the generations. However, a decrease in the cumulative number of larvae across exposed generations was observed between F0 and F2 at the highest dose rate (238.8 ± 15.4 and 171.2 ± 13.1 number of larvae per individual, respectively). Besides, the F1' generation was found to lay significantly fewer eggs than the F1 generation for tested dose rates 6.6, 8.1, 19.4, and 28.1 mGy h(-1). Our results confirmed that reproduction (here, cumulative number of larvae) is the most sensitive endpoint affected by chronic exposure to ionizing radiation. The results obtained revealed transgenerational effects from parental exposure in the second generation, and the second non-exposed generation was indeed more affected than the second exposed generation.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ECOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO), Cadarache, France. Electronic address: adeline.buisset@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buisset-Goussen
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ECOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO), Cadarache, France; Unité Modèles pour l'Ecotoxicologie et la Toxicologie (METO), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), BP2, F-60550 Verneuil en Halatte, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goussen
authors.affiliation: Magelis, 6 rue Frederic Mistral, 84160 Cadenet, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Della-Vedova
authors.affiliation: Université Montpellier1, Faculté de Pharmacie, Laboratoire de Toxicologie, 15, Avenue Charles Flahault BP 14491, 34093 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galas
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ECOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO), Cadarache, France.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Adam-Guillermin
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ECOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO), Cadarache, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lecomte-Pradines
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D005720:Gamma Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D012098:Reproduction / Q000528:radiation effects
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Chronic exposure; Ionizing radiation; Multigenerational study