1 985 63 CHRONIC RADIATION EXPOSURE AS AN ECOLOGICAL FACTOR: HYPERMETHYLATION AND GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION IN IRRADIATED SCOTS PINE POPULATIONS. GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC CHANGES WERE INVESTIGATED IN CHRONICALLY IRRADIATED SCOTS PINE (PINUS SYLVESTRIS L.) POPULATIONS FROM TERRITORIES THAT WERE HEAVILY CONTAMINATED BY RADIONUCLIDES AS RESULT OF THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ACCIDENT. IN COMPARISON TO THE REFERENCE SITE, THE GENETIC DIVERSITY REVEALED BY ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY OF AFLPS WAS FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AT THE RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED AREAS. IN ADDITION, THE GENOME OF PINE TREES WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HYPERMETHYLATED AT 4 OF THE 7 AFFECTED SITES. 2018 2 1115 33 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EPIGENETIC VARIABILITY IN TWO PINE SPECIES EXPOSED TO CHRONIC RADIATION IN THE CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA AFFECTED ZONES. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EPIGENETIC VARIABILITY IN TWO PINE SPECIES AFFECTED AS A RESULT OF THE CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENTS IS PRESENTED. THE ABSORBED DOSE RATE WITHIN THE AFFECTED CHERNOBYL SITES VARIES OVER A WIDER RANGE (1.5-24.6 MUGY/H) THAN WITHIN THE FUKUSHIMA SITES (3.5-6.5 MUGY/H). IT WAS SHOWN THAT CHRONIC IRRADIATION CAN CHANGE THE LEVEL OF WHOLE GENOME METHYLATION IN PINE POPULATIONS, BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THE GENOMES OF JAPANESE RED PINES ARE HYPOMETHYLATED, AND THE DEGREE OF METHYLATION AND HYDROXYMETHYLATION DECREASES WITH AN INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF RADIATION EXPOSURE. IN CONTRAST, THE PERCENTAGES OF GENOME METHYLATION AND HYDROXYMETHYLATION IN SCOTS PINE POPULATIONS EXCEED THE REFERENCE LEVELS. THE OBSERVED DISCREPANCY IN THE PATTERNS OF GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION CAN BE ATTRIBUTED PARTLY TO THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY (DIFFERENCES IN THE CLIMATE, RADIATION DOSE, AGE AND SPECIES OF THE PINES) WHICH COULD AFFECT THE RESULTS. IN THE FRAME OF IRAP ANALYSIS, A LARGER NUMBER OF DIFFERENT BANDS WAS OBSERVED IN THE CHERNOBYL POPULATIONS COMPARED TO THE JAPANESE POPULATIONS. BOTH THE JAPANESE AND CHERNOBYL POPULATIONS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SIGNIFICANT GENETIC VARIABILITY. HOWEVER, THE MAIN PART OF THIS VARIABILITY IS OBSERVED WITHIN POPULATIONS. THE DENDROGRAMS, BASED ON PRESENCE/ABSENCE OF IRAP FRAGMENTS AND NEI'S GENETIC DISTANCES, REVEALED SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CHERNOBYL AND JAPANESE POPULATIONS ACCORDING TO THE LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS PRESENTED WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE RESPONSES OF PINE TREES TO CHRONIC RADIATION EXPOSURE. 2023 3 6555 23 TRANSGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF GAMMA RADIATION DOSE AND DOSE RATE ON DROSOPHILA FLIES IRRADIATED AT AN EARLY EMBRYONAL STAGE. IONIZING RADIATION (IR) KILLS CELLS MAINLY THROUGH INDUCTION OF DNA DAMAGES AND THE SURVIVING CELLS MAY SUFFER FROM MUTATIONS. TRANSGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF IR ARE WELL DOCUMENTED, BUT THE EXACT MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THEM ARE LESS WELL UNDERSTOOD; THEY INCLUDE INDUCTION OF MUTATIONS IN GERM CELLS AND EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE. PREVIOUSLY, EFFECTS IN THE OFFSPRING OF MICE AND ZEBRAFISH EXPOSED TO IR HAVE BEEN REPORTED. A FEW STUDIES ALSO SHOWED INDICATIONS OF TRANSGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF RADIATION IN HUMANS, PARTICULARLY IN NUCLEAR POWER WORKERS. IN THE PRESENT PROJECT, SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF LOW-DOSE-RATE (LDR; 50 AND 97 MGY/H) AND HIGH-DOSE-RATE (HDR; 23.4, 47.1 AND 495 GY/H) IR IN DROSOPHILA EMBRYOS WERE INVESTIGATED. THE EMBRYOS WERE IRRADIATED AT DIFFERENT DOSES AND DOSE RATES AND RADIOSENSITIVITY AT DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES WAS INVESTIGATED. ALSO, THE SURVIVAL OF LARVAE, PUPAE AND ADULTS DEVELOPED FROM EMBRYOS IRRADIATED AT AN EARLY STAGE (30 MIN AFTER EGG LAYING) WERE STUDIED. THE LARVAL CRAWLING AND PUPATION HEIGHT ASSAYS WERE APPLIED TO INVESTIGATE RADIATION EFFECTS ON LARVAL LOCOMOTION AND PUPATION BEHAVIOR, RESPECTIVELY. IN PARALLEL, THE OFFSPRING FROM 3 GY IRRADIATED EARLY-STAGE EMBRYOS WERE FOLLOWED UP TO 12 GENERATIONS AND ABNORMAL PHENOTYPES WERE STUDIED. ACUTE EXPOSURE OF EMBRYOS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT SHOWED THAT THE EARLY STAGE EMBRYO IS THE MOST SENSITIVE. THE EFFECTS ON LARVAL LOCOMOTION SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DOSE RATES BUT A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE OF LOCOMOTION ACTIVITY ABOVE 7 GY WAS OBSERVED. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT EMBRYOS EXPOSED TO THE LOW DOSE RATES HAVE SHORTER ECLOSION TIMES. AT THE SAME CUMULATIVE DOSE (1 UP TO 7 GY), HDR IS MORE EMBRYOTOXIC THAN LDR. WE ALSO FOUND A RADIATION-INDUCED DEPIGMENTATION ON MALES (A5 SEGMENT OF THE DORSAL ABDOMEN, A5PIG(-)) THAT CAN BE TRANSMITTED UP TO 12 GENERATIONS. THE PHENOMENON DOES NOT FOLLOW THE CLASSICAL MENDELIAN LAWS OF SEGREGATION. 2022 4 5344 30 RADIOBIOLOGICAL FEATURES IN OFFSPRING OF NATURAL POPULATIONS OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER AFTER CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT. IN THEIR NATURAL HABITATS, POPULATIONS OF ORGANISMS ARE FACED WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY RADIATION, CAUSING A WIDE RANGE OF RADIOBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS (FROM RADIOSENSITIVITY TO RADIOADAPTIVE RESPONSE AND HORMESIS). IN THIS STUDY, SPECIMENS OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER WERE SELECTED FROM TERRITORIES OF THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION. THE ISOGENIC STOCKS DERIVED FROM THESE SPECIMENS REPRESENT THE GENETIC SYSTEMS OF CURRENT POPULATIONS AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO STUDY RADIORESISTANCE AND ITS MECHANISMS IN FUTURE GENERATIONS UNDER CONTROLLED LABORATORY CONDITIONS. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT TRANSGENERATIONAL RADIATION EFFECTS AT THE LEVEL OF LETHAL MUTATIONS AND SURVIVAL RATE ARE UNSTABLE AND DEPEND NOT ONLY ON THE LEVEL OF CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY IRRADIATION, BUT ALSO ON OTHER FACTORS. A SINGLE ACUTE IRRADIATION EXPOSURE OF OFFSPRING WHOSE PARENTS INHABITED A SITE WITH A HIGHER LEVEL OF CHRONIC IRRADIATION MADE IT POSSIBLE TO REVEAL PRONOUNCED RADIORESISTANT FEATURES IN THE OFFSPRING. AND THE OFFSPRING WHOSE PARENTS WERE EXPOSED TO RADIATION LEVELS CLOSE TO THE NATURAL RADIATION BACKGROUND, ON THE CONTRARY, ACQUIRED RADIOSENSITIVE FEATURES. THEIR RESPONSE TO ACUTE EXPOSURE INCLUDES A HIGH-FREQUENCY OF LETHAL MUTATIONS AND A SHORT LIFESPAN. THE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CHRONIC PARENTAL EXPOSURE IS CAUSED BY DIFFERENCES IN THE ACTIVITIES OF CERTAIN TRANSPOSONS THAT DESTABILIZE THE GENOME. OUR DATA CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS (VIA TRANSPOSON ACTIVITY) OF THE EFFECT OF PARENTAL RADIATION EXPOSURE ON THE HEALTH AND ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL OF POPULATIONS AFFECTED BY THE TECHNOGENICALLY INCREASED RADIATION BACKGROUND. 2022 5 3040 27 GENOME HYPERMETHYLATION IN PINUS SILVESTRIS OF CHERNOBYL--A MECHANISM FOR RADIATION ADAPTATION? ADAPTATION IS A COMPLEX PROCESS BY WHICH POPULATIONS OF ORGANISMS RESPOND TO LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES BY PERMANENT GENETIC CHANGE. HERE WE PRESENT DATA FROM THE NATURAL "OPEN-FIELD" RADIATION ADAPTATION EXPERIMENT AFTER THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT AND PROVIDE THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF THE INVOLVEMENT OF EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN ADAPTATION OF A EUKARYOTE-SCOTS PINE (PINUS SILVESTRIS), TO CHRONIC RADIATION EXPOSURE. WE HAVE EVALUATED GLOBAL GENOME METHYLATION OF CONTROL AND RADIATION-EXPOSED PINE TREES USING A METHOD BASED ON CLEAVAGE BY A METHYLATION-SENSITIVE HPAII RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASE THAT LEAVES A 5' GUANINE OVERHANG AND SUBSEQUENT SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE EXTENSION WITH LABELED [3H] DCTP. WE HAVE FOUND THAT GENOMIC DNA OF EXPOSED PINE TREES WAS CONSIDERABLY HYPERMETHYLATED. MOREOVER, HYPERMETHYLATION APPEARED TO BE DEPENDENT UPON THE RADIATION DOSE ABSORBED BY THE TREES. SUCH HYPERMETHYLATION MAY BE VIEWED AS A DEFENSE STRATEGY OF PLANTS THAT PREVENTS GENOME INSTABILITY AND RESHUFFLING OF THE HEREDITARY MATERIAL, ALLOWING SURVIVAL IN AN EXTREME ENVIRONMENT. FURTHER STUDIES ARE CLEARLY NEEDED TO ANALYZE IN DETAIL THE INVOLVEMENT OF DNA METHYLATION AND OTHER EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IN THE COMPLEX PROCESS OF RADIATION STRESS AND ADAPTIVE RESPONSE. 2003 6 1835 29 EFFECTS OF NON-HUMAN SPECIES IRRADIATION AFTER THE CHERNOBYL NPP ACCIDENT. THE AREA AFFECTED BY THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ACCIDENT IN 1986 HAS BECOME A UNIQUE TEST SITE WHERE LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF A DRASTIC CHANGE IN A RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AS WELL AS TRENDS AND INTENSITY OF SELECTION ARE STUDIED IN NATURAL SETTINGS. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT FOR BIOTA VARIED FROM AN ENHANCED RATE OF MUTAGENESIS TO DAMAGE AT THE ECOSYSTEM LEVEL. THE REVIEW COMPREHENSIVELY BRINGS TOGETHER KEY DATA OF THE LONG-TERM STUDIES OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS INHABITING OVER 20 YEARS THE CHERNOBYL NPP ZONE. THE SEVERITY OF RADIATION EFFECTS WAS STRONGLY DEPENDENT ON THE DOSE RECEIVED IN THE EARLY PERIOD AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THE MOST EXPOSED PHYTOCENOSES AND SOIL ANIMALS' COMMUNITIES EXHIBITED DOSE DEPENDENT ALTERATIONS IN THE SPECIES COMPOSITION AND REDUCTION IN BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY. ON THE OTHER HAND, NO DECREASE IN NUMBERS OR TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY OF SMALL MAMMALS EVEN IN THE MOST RADIOACTIVE HABITAT WAS SHOWN. IN A MAJORITY OF THE STUDIES, IN BOTH PLANT AND ANIMAL POPULATIONS FROM THE CHERNOBYL ZONE, IN THE FIRST YEARS AFTER THE ACCIDENT HIGH INCREASES IN MUTATION RATES WERE DOCUMENTED. IN MOST CASES THE DOSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS WERE NONLINEAR AND THE MUTATION RATES PER UNIT DOSE WERE HIGHER AT LOW DOSES AND DOSE RATES. IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS A DECLINE IN THE RADIATION BACKGROUND RATE OCCURRED FASTER THAN REDUCTION IN THE MUTATION RATE. PLANT AND ANIMAL POPULATIONS HAVE SHOWN SIGNS OF ADAPTATION TO CHRONIC EXPOSURE. IN ADAPTATION TO THE ENHANCED LEVEL OF EXPOSURE AN ESSENTIAL ROLE OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION WAS SHOWN. BASED ON THE CHERNOBYL NPP ACCIDENT STUDIES, IN THE PRESENT REVIEW ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO ASSESS MINIMUM DOSES AT WHICH ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS WERE OBSERVED. 2008 7 5032 22 PERTURBED TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILES AFTER CHRONIC LOW DOSE RATE RADIATION IN MICE. ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES OF IONIZING RADIATION GIVEN CHRONICALLY AT LOW DOSE RATES ARE HIGHLY DEBATED, A CONTROVERSY ALSO RELEVANT FOR OTHER STRESSORS. INCREASED KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DAMAGING POTENTIAL OF IONIZING RADIATION FROM ALL DOSE RATES AND DOSES. THERE IS A LACK OF RELEVANT LOW DOSE RATE DATA THAT IS PARTLY ASCRIBED TO THE RARITY OF EXPOSURE FACILITIES ALLOWING CHRONIC LOW DOSE RATE EXPOSURES. USING THE FIGARO FACILITY, WE ASSESSED EARLY (ONE DAY POST-RADIATION) AND LATE (RECOVERY TIME OF 100-200 DAYS) HEPATIC GENOME-WIDE TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILES IN MALE MICE OF TWO STRAINS (CBA/CAOLAHSD AND C57BL/6NHSD) EXPOSED CHRONICALLY TO A LOW DOSE RATE (2.5 MGY/H; 1200H, LDR), A MID-DOSE RATE (10 MGY/H; 300H, MDR) AND ACUTELY TO A HIGH DOSE RATE (100 MGY/H; 30H, HDR) OF GAMMA IRRADIATION, GIVEN TO AN EQUIVALENT TOTAL DOSE OF 3 GY. DOSE-RATE AND STRAIN-SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSES WERE IDENTIFIED. DIFFERENTLY MODULATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSES ACROSS ALL DOSE RATE EXPOSURE GROUPS WERE EVIDENT BY THE REPRESENTATION OF FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS. EVIDENCE OF CHANGED EPIGENETIC REGULATION (GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION) WAS NOT DETECTED. A PERIOD OF RECOVERY MARKEDLY REDUCED THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES. USING ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MODULATED GENES, PERTURBED SIGNALING PATHWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH CANCER AND NON-CANCER EFFECTS WERE OBSERVED, SUCH AS LIPID METABOLISM AND INFLAMMATION. THESE PATHWAYS WERE SEEN AFTER CHRONIC LOW DOSE RATE AND WERE NOT RESTRICTED TO THE ACUTE HIGH DOSE RATE EXPOSURE. THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSE INDUCED BY CHRONIC LOW DOSE RATE IONIZING RADIATION SUGGESTS CONTRIBUTION TO CONDITIONS SUCH AS CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES. WE CONTRIBUTE WITH NOVEL GENOME WIDE TRANSCRIPTIONAL DATA HIGHLIGHTING DOSE-RATE-SPECIFIC RADIATION RESPONSES AND EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING BOTH DOSE RATE, DURATION OF EXPOSURE, AND VARIABILITY IN SUSCEPTIBILITY WHEN ASSESSING RISKS FROM IONIZING RADIATION. 2021 8 6673 20 USE OF COMPUTER TV MORPHODENSITOMETRY TO STUDY EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES FROM CHILDREN AFFECTED BY LOW-DOSE IRRADIATION. A NOVEL METHOD, COMPUTER TV MORPHODENSITOMETRY, WAS USED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF LOW-DOSE IRRADIATION ON PERIPHERAL BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES FROM CHILDREN AFFECTED BY THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER. THIS METHOD USES DIGITIZED IMAGES TO DETECT AND MEASURE CHANGES IN CHROMATIN SHAPE AND DENSITY AND TO PRODUCE TWO-DIMENSIONAL AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PICTURES. IMAGES CAN THEN BE STORED TO CREATE A VIDEO ARCHIVE. THIS METHOD IS SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO OBSERVE SUBTLE CHANGES IN CHROMATIN STRUCTURE THAT PREVIOUSLY COULD BE DETECTED ONLY BY MORE DETAILED MOLECULAR ANALYSES. IN THIS STUDY, LYMPHOCYTE INTERPHASE NUCLEI IN DNA-STAINED BLOOD SMEARS FROM CHILDREN SUBJECTED TO CHRONIC LOW-DOSE IRRADIATION WERE EXAMINED BY COMPUTER TV MORPHODENSITOMETRY. PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATE THAT CIRCULATING LYMPHOCYTES FROM CHILDREN EXPOSED TO RADIATION MAY CONTAIN SIGNIFICANT ALTERATIONS IN THE STRUCTURE AND/OR DENSITY OF NUCLEAR CHROMATIN. 1997 9 1399 19 DIET-INDUCED OBESITY MODULATES EPIGENETIC RESPONSES TO IONIZING RADIATION IN MICE. BOTH EXPOSURE TO IONIZING RADIATION AND OBESITY HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS PATHOLOGIES INCLUDING CANCER. THERE IS A CRUCIAL NEED IN BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN IONIZING RADIATION EFFECTS (ESPECIALLY AT LOW DOSES) AND OTHER RISK FACTORS, SUCH AS OBESITY. IN ORDER TO EVALUATE RADIATION RESPONSES IN OBESE ANIMALS, C3H AND C57BL/6J MICE FED A CONTROL NORMAL FAT OR A HIGH FAT (HF) DIET WERE EXPOSED TO FRACTIONATED DOSES OF X-RAYS (0.75 GY X4). BONE MARROW MICRONUCLEUS ASSAYS DID NOT SUGGEST A MODULATION OF RADIATION-INDUCED GENOTOXICITY BY HF DIET. USING MSP, WE OBSERVED THAT THE PROMOTERS OF P16 AND DAPK GENES WERE METHYLATED IN THE LIVERS OF C57BL/6J MICE FED A HF DIET (IRRADIATED AND NON-IRRADIATED); MGMT PROMOTER WAS METHYLATED IN IRRADIATED AND/OR HF DIET-FED MICE. IN ADDITION, METHYLATION PCR ARRAYS IDENTIFIED EP300 AND SOCS1 (WHOSE PROMOTERS EXHIBITED HIGHER METHYLATION LEVELS IN NON-IRRADIATED HF DIET-FED MICE) AS POTENTIAL TARGETS FOR FURTHER STUDIES. WE THEN COMPARED MICRORNA REGULATIONS AFTER RADIATION EXPOSURE IN THE LIVERS OF C57BL/6J MICE FED A NORMAL OR AN HF DIET, USING MICRORNA ARRAYS. INTERESTINGLY, RADIATION-TRIGGERED MICRORNA REGULATIONS OBSERVED IN NORMAL MICE WERE NOT OBSERVED IN OBESE MICE. MIR-466E WAS UPREGULATED IN NON-IRRADIATED OBESE MICE. IN VITRO FREE FATTY ACID (PALMITIC ACID, OLEIC ACID) ADMINISTRATION SENSITIZED AML12 MOUSE LIVER CELLS TO IONIZING RADIATION, BUT THE INHIBITION OF MIR-466E COUNTERACTED THIS RADIO-SENSITIZATION, SUGGESTING THAT THE MODULATION OF RADIATION RESPONSES BY DIET-INDUCED OBESITY MIGHT INVOLVE MIR-466E EXPRESSION. ALL TOGETHER, OUR RESULTS SUGGESTED THE EXISTENCE OF DIETARY EFFECTS ON RADIATION RESPONSES (ESPECIALLY EPIGENETIC REGULATIONS) IN MICE, POSSIBLY IN RELATIONSHIP WITH OBESITY-INDUCED CHRONIC OXIDATIVE STRESS. 2014 10 6777 17 [ASSOCIATION OF P-MOBILE ELEMENT ACTIVITY AND DNA METHYLATION PATTERN CHANGES IN THE CONDITIONS OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER PROLONGED IRRADIATION]. ASSOCIATION OF THE RADIOSENSITIVITY AND EPIGENETIC PATTERN DNA CHANGES AT THE CONDITIONS OF PROLONGED IRRADIATION WAS INVESTIGATED. TWO LABORATORY DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER STRAINS (CANTON-S AND RI) IRRADIATED FOR 20 GENERATIONS TO LOW DOSES RATE (1.2 X 10(-1), 0.8 X 10(-8) AND 0.12 X 10(-8) GY/S) WERE USED AS EXPERIMENTAL OBJECTS. DNA FOR THE ANALYSIS WAS EXTRACTED SEPARATELY FOR THE FLIES OF MALES AND FEMALES. RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASES GLUL, GLAL WERE USED. RESTRICTION ANALYSIS HAS SHOWN THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT DNA METHYLATED PATTERNS FOR MALES AND FEMALES AS FOR CONTROL AND EXPOSED VARIANTS. AT THE CHRONIC IRRADIATION THERE WAS THE DECLINE OF METHYLATION LEVEL AT THE ENZYMES GLUL, GLAL SITES RECOGNITION. 2010 11 934 15 CHRONIC LOW DOSE IRRADIATION ALTERS HEPATIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILES, BUT NOT GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION IN MEDAKA (ORYZIAS LATIPES). IONIZING RADIATION (IR) RESULTING FROM BOTH NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES IS UBIQUITOUS THROUGHOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. HISTORICALLY, STUDIES ON THE BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF RADIATION PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON RESPONSES TO ACUTE DOSES OF RADIATION, WITH LITTLE ADVANCEMENT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT EXPOSURES. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ARE CAPABLE OF MEDIATING ORGANISMAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS AND DNA METHYLATION PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLES IN GENE REGULATION AND PROMOTING CHROMOSOMAL STABILITY. HERE, WE ASSESS BROAD-SCALE TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENETIC VARIATION RESULTING FROM CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO LOW DOSES OF IONIZING RADIATION (LDIR; 5.78, 53.76, OR 520.23 MGY/DAY) USING JAPANESE MEDAKA FISH (ORYZIAS LATIPES) IN A REPLICATED MESOCOSM DESIGN. WE OBSERVED SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE HEPATIC TRANSCRIPTOME INDUCED BY A 3-MONTH CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO IR, WHEREAS GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION APPEARED LARGELY UNAFFECTED. OUR FINDINGS REVEAL A SET OF GENES, INCLUDING THOSE INVOLVED IN IMMUNE FUNCTION, RESPONDING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT IR EXPOSURES, WHICH DO NOT APPEAR TO BE MEDIATED BY A SYSTEMIC GLOBAL SHIFT IN DNA METHYLATION. 2020 12 5184 18 PREMATURE CHROMOSOME CONDENSATION ASSAY TO STUDY INFLUENCE OF HIGH-LEVEL NATURAL RADIATION ON THE INITIAL DNA DOUBLE STRAND BREAK REPAIR IN HUMAN G(0) LYMPHOCYTES. THE INHERENT CAPACITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO EFFICIENTLY REPAIR IONIZING RADIATION INDUCED DNA DOUBLE STRAND BREAKS (DSBS) MAY BE INHERITED, HOWEVER, IT IS INFLUENCED BY SEVERAL EPIGENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. A PILOT STUDY TESTED WHETHER CHRONIC LOW DOSE NATURAL RADIATION EXPOSURE INFLUENCES THE REJOINING OF INITIAL DNA DSBS INDUCED BY A 2 GY GAMMA-IRRADIATION IN 22 INDIVIDUALS FROM HIGH (>1.5 MGY/YEAR) AND NORMAL (