LET-dependent effects on the heavy-ion beam mutagenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

We irradiated Arabidopsis thaliana with several kinds of heavy-ion beams to investigate the linear energy transfer (LET)-dependent effects. First, dry seeds were irradiated with C, N, Ne, Ar, or Fe ions at doses ranging from 5 to 400 Gy to compare the sensitivities on flowering and mutation rates among the ion species. The sensitivities to irradiation differed markedly among the ion species. Of the ion species, N (30 keVμm^-1) was the most effective at inducing albino mutants. Second, we examined the effects of LET on mutation induction. The LET of C, N, Ne, and Ar ion beams was controlled at 30-640 keVμm^-1. Regardless of ion species, irradiation with the same LET value resulted in the same mutation rate. Thus, the LET of ion beams appear to be an important factor affecting mutagenesis. We will also report DNA damages induced by heavy-ion irradiation in the conference.