Molecular analysis of carbon ion-induced mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Abstract

In order to elucidate the characteristics of the mutations induced by ion particles at the molecular level in plants, mutated loci in carbon ion-induced mutants of Arabidopsis were investigated by PCR and Southern blot analyses. In the present study, two lines of gl1 mutant and two lines of tt4 mutant were isolated after carbon ion-irradiation. Out of four mutants, one had a deletion, other two contained rearrangements, and one had a point-like mutation. From the present result, it was suggested that ion particles induced different kinds of alterations of the DNA and therefore they could produce various types of mutant alleles in plants.

Gene expression characteristics of growth-inhibited rice seedlings induced by low-energy N+-beam implantation

“…Although low-energy ion-beam implantation has obvious benefits, such energy can induce mutagenesis, injury, and plant death . Low-energy ion-beam irradiation can cause nuclear and chromosomal defects, resulting in DNA deletions, duplications, and transposition of DNA fragments (Shikazono et al, 2001;Feng et al, 2007;Ya et al, 2010). Other plant responses to ion-beam irradiation include oxidative stress, free radical generation, and changes in signal transduction, such as long-distance transfer of radiation effect signals and alterations in the abscisic acid signal pathway (Feng et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2010).…”

“…Previously, research on ion-beam implantation focused on the immediate cause of the mutagenesis (Shikazono et al, 2001;Maekawa et al, 2003;Yamaguchi et al, 2003). The molecular mecanism of generational effects of ion-beam irradiation is seldom investigated because first-generation biological effects are rarely inherited by subsequent generations.…”

Stable inheritance of excellent agricultural traits induced by ¹²C⁶⁺ heavy-ions in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

“…This technique is very effective at causing mutations in embryos at a particular stage of fertilization, without damaging other plant tissues (Abe et al 2002). Moreover, heavy ion irradiation, which induces a broad spectrum and high frequency as well as high diversity of mutants, has shown a great potential for breeding cultivars (Shikazono et al 2001;Tanaka et al 2010). Existing studies have demonstrated that ion irradiation caused irreparable DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), whereas most damage caused by traditional radiation resources (like X-ray and γ-ray) was repaired (Wada et al 2002).…”

“…Damage that cannot be easily repaired is vital for mutant induction, and is a major contributor to the high relative biological effectiveness and dominates the biological consequences in plants (Feng et al 2006). Biological effects of high-LET heavy-ion radiation are more pronounced than those of X-rays, γ-rays, and electron beams (Shikazono et al 2001). Mutation doi: 10.17221/214/2014-CJGPB in plant is an effectual tool to create new breeding varieties and has been widely used in recent years (Feng et al 2006;Roychowdhury & Tah 2013).…”

“…These effects might be imperfectly repaired, resulting in heritable excellent agricultural traits, and which are retained by the offspring (Wada et al 2002). The molecular mechanism that causes this phenotype is not clear, Shikazono et al (2001Shikazono et al ( , 2005 reported that carbon ion-irradiated mutants might more likely contain rearrangements and short deletions in the genome of the plant. Tanaka et al (2010) further summarized and clarified that ion beams frequently produce large DNA alterations, including translocations, inversions and deletions.…”