The Study on Space-Flight Induced DNA Damage in Arabidopsis Thaliana and The Protective Effect of Hydrogen

摘要

Purpose: To demonstrate the mutagenic effect of space-flight in plant seedlings and the protective effect of hydrogen on ionizing radiation induced DNA damage.Materials and methods: Arabidopsis thaliana-lines transgenic for bglucuronidase (GUS) recombination substrates was adopted. The seedlings were exposed to 13 days space-flight during the Shenzhou-9 mission. Ground three-dimensional clinostat and ground lg were as controls. Moreover, the seedlings were exposed to 20 to 80 Gy 60Co radiation with or without treatment of hydrogen-rich water. The homologous recombination frequency (HRF) was measured. Results: It was shown that 13 days space-flight exposure of seedlings led to significant increases in HRF compared with its ground three-dimensional clinostat controls and ground lg controls and three-dimensional clinostat induced a significant increase in HRF compared with ground lg controls. Moreover, treatment with hydrogen-rich water dramatically reduced the HR frequency induced by exposure of seedlings to 20 to 80 Gy 60Co radiation. Conclusions: Space-flight can induce an mutagenic effect in plant seedlings. This reporting system has potential application value in future long-term flight experiment as biological dosimeter. Hydrogen represents a potentially novel preventative strategy for radiation-induced DNA damage in plants.