Transgenerational effects of historic radiation dose in pale grass blue butterflies around Fukushima following the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant meltdown accident

Hancock, S; Vo, Nguyen T. K.; Omar-Nazir, Laila; Batlle, J. Vives i; Otaki, Joji M.; Hiyama, Atsuki; Byun, S.H.; Seymour, Colin; Mothersill, Carmel

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.09.039

Cited by 42 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…These effects may not be observed in the laboratory-based experimental system where such ecological media are absent. The biological effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident are expected to be evaluated not only by dosimetric analysis of ionising radiation but also from the viewpoint of the field effects through ecological systems [42,56,57] together with other viewpoints [58,59,60,61] in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tolerance of High Oral Doses of Nonradioactive and Radioactive Caesium Chloride in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

Gurung

Taira

Sakauchi

et al. 2019

Insects

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The biological effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident have been examined in the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). In previous internal exposure experiments, larvae were given field-collected contaminated host plant leaves that contained up to 43.5 kBq/kg (leaf) of radioactive caesium. Larvae ingested up to 480 kBq/kg (larva), resulting in high mortality and abnormality rates. However, these results need to be compared with the toxicological data of caesium. Here, we examined the toxicity of both nonradioactive and radioactive caesium chloride on the pale grass blue butterfly. Larvae were fed a caesium-containing artificial diet, ingesting up to 149 MBq/kg (larva) of radioactive caesium (137Cs) or a much higher amount of nonradioactive caesium. We examined the pupation rate, eclosion rate, survival rate up to the adult stage, and the forewing size. In contrast to previous internal exposure experiments using field-collected contaminated leaves, we could not detect any effect. We conclude that the butterfly is tolerant to ionising radiation from 137Cs in the range tested but is vulnerable to radioactive contamination in the field. These results suggest that the biological effects in the field may be mediated through ecological systems and cannot be estimated solely based on radiation doses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tolerance of High Oral Doses of Nonradioactive and Radioactive Caesium Chloride in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

Gurung

Taira

Sakauchi

et al. 2019

Insects

Self Cite

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“…This information is required for accurate dosimetric estimates of the absorbed radiation doses, which will make us understand the relationship between field absorbed doses and their biological impacts on the pale grass blue butterfly. Additionally, dosimetric calculations likely contribute to the understanding of transgenerational effects [47,76,77] and the field–laboratory paradox of the biological effects of radioactive pollution, at least in this butterfly [78,79,80,81].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overwintering States of the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) at the Time of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in March 2011

Sakauchi

Taira

Toki

et al. 2019

Insects

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The Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 caused the massive release of anthropogenic radioactive materials from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant to its surrounding environment. Its biological effects have been studied using the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), but the overwintering states of this butterfly remain elusive. Here, we conducted a series of field surveys in March 2018, March 2019, and April 2019 in Fukushima and its vicinity to clarify the overwintering states of this butterfly at the time of the Fukushima nuclear accident. We discovered overwintering individuals in situ associated with the host plant Oxalis corniculata under natural straw mulch as first-instar to fourth-instar larvae in March 2018 and 2019. No other developmental stages were found. The body length and width were reasonably correlated with the accumulated temperature. On the basis of a linear regression equation between body size and accumulated temperature, together with other data, we deduced that the pale grass blue butterfly occurred as fourth-instar larvae in Fukushima and its vicinity at the time of the accident. This study paves the way for subsequent dosimetric analyses that determine the radiation doses absorbed by the butterfly after the accident.

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“…The positive correlation between mitochondrial nucleotide diversity and ATDRs (currently ranging in the frogs samples at the CEZ from 0.007 to 22.4 µGy.h -1 ) is in agreement with an effect of ionizing radiation on genetic diversity, but there is no significant correlation between mitochondrial haplotype genetic diversity and ATDRs contrary to the results of Baker et al on bank voles between haplotype genetic diversity and ambient dose rate 47 . The ATDR seems to be the most relevant dose rate estimator for a population over a time period, but it does not account for exposure of previous generations that occurred since the accident, even though possible transgenerational effects [90][91][92] and evolutionary processes should be dependant of these historical doses. The measured mitochondrial substitutions may not only be caused by current exposure to artificial radionuclides, but may be also the result of mutations accumulated by individuals exposed to ionizing radiation in previous generations.…”

Section: Is Ionizing Radiation At the Origin Of An Increased Substitumentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual evolution of tree frog populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Car

Gilles

Armant

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Despite the ubiquity of pollutants in the environment, their long-term ecological consequences are not always clear and still poorly studied. This is the case concerning the radioactive contamination of the environment following the major nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Notwithstanding the implications of evolutionary processes on the population status, few studies concern the evolution of organisms chronically exposed to ionizing radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Here, we examined genetic markers for 19 populations of Eastern tree frog (Hyla orientalis) sampled in the Chernobyl region about thirty years after the nuclear power plant accident to investigate microevolutionary processes ongoing in local populations. Genetic diversity estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial markers showed an absence of genetic erosion and higher mitochondrial diversity in tree frogs from the Chernobyl exclusion zone compared to other European populations. Moreover, the study of haplotype network permitted us to decipher the presence of an independent recent evolutionary history of Chernobyl exclusion zone’s Eastern tree frogs caused by an elevated mutation rate compared to other European populations. By fitting to our data a model of haplotype network evolution, we suspected that Eastern tree frog populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone have a high mitochondrial mutation rate and small effective population sizes. These data suggest that Eastern tree frogs populations might offset the impact of deleterious mutations because of their large clutch size, but also question the long term impact of ionizing radiation on the status of other species living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

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Transgenerational effects of historic radiation dose in pale grass blue butterflies around Fukushima following the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant meltdown accident

Cited by 42 publications

References 29 publications

Tolerance of High Oral Doses of Nonradioactive and Radioactive Caesium Chloride in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

Tolerance of High Oral Doses of Nonradioactive and Radioactive Caesium Chloride in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha

Overwintering States of the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) at the Time of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in March 2011

Unusual evolution of tree frog populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

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