Exposure of luminous marine bacteria to low-dose gamma-radiation

The study addresses biological effects of low-dose gamma-radiation. Radioactive ¹³⁷Cs-containing particles were used as model sources of gamma-radiation. Luminous marine bacterium Photobacterium phosphoreum was used as a bioassay with the bioluminescent intensity as the physiological parameter tested. To investigate the sensitivity of the bacteria to the low-dose gamma-radiation exposure (≤250 mGy), the irradiation conditions were varied as follows: bioluminescence intensity was measured at 5, 10, and 20°С for 175, 100, and 47 h, respectively, at different dose rates (up to 4100 μGy/h). There was no noticeable effect of gamma-radiation at 5 and 10°С, while the 20°С exposure revealed authentic bioluminescence inhibition. The 20°С results of gamma-radiation exposure were compared to those for low-dose alpha- and beta-radiation exposures studied previously under comparable experimental conditions. In contrast to ionizing radiation of alpha and beta types, gamma-emission did not initiate bacterial bioluminescence activation (adaptive response). As with alpha- and beta-radiation, gamma-emission did not demonstrate monotonic dose-effect dependencies; the bioluminescence inhibition efficiency was found to be related to the exposure time, while no dose rate dependence was found. The sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene did not reveal a mutagenic effect of low-dose gamma radiation. The exposure time that caused 50% bioluminescence inhibition was suggested as a test parameter for radiotoxicity evaluation under conditions of chronic low-dose gamma irradiation.