SREL Reprint #2079

High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl

Robert J. Baker1, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche1, Amanda J. Wright1, Lara E. Wiggins1, Meredith J. Hamilton1, Erin P. Reat1,
Michael H. Smith2, Michael D. Lomakin3, and Ronald K. Chesser2

1Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA
2Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
3International Research and Development Agency, 252001, Kiev-1, Ukraine

Abstract: Base-pair substitution rates for the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of free-living, native populations of voles collected next to reactor 4 at Chernobyl, Ukraine, were estimated by two independent methods to be in excess of 10-4 nucleotides per site per generation. These estimates are hundreds of times greater than those typically found in mitochondria of vertebrates, suggesting that the environment resulting from this nuclear power plant disaster is having a measurable genetic impact on the organisms of that region. Despite these DNA changes, vole populations thrive and reproduce in the radioactive regions around the Chernobyl reactor.

SREL Reprint #2079

Baker, R.J., R.A. Van Den Bussche, A.J. Wright, L.E. Wiggins, M.J. Hamilton, E.P. Reat, M.H. Smith, M.D. Lomakin, and R.K. Chesser. 1996. High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl. Nature 380:707-708.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).