Effects of oxygen during γ-irradiation of Micrococcus radiodurans

A study has been made of the effects of oxygen on the yield of double strand breaks in the DNA of Micrococcus radiodurans, and of the relation of these effects to cell death. The o.e.r. values for cell survival were considerably smaller than those for the yield of double strand breaks, although they showed similar trends after irradiation in different media. The o.e.r. values for the inhibition of post-irradiation enzymatic repair were similar to those for cell survival. The o.e.r. for radiation-induced breaks in DNA therefore seems to depend on radiochemical reactions that are occurring during irradiation rather than on a preferential enzymatic repair of those strand breaks that are produced by anoxic irradiation. Cell survival depends less on the number of double strand breaks produced than on the ability of the cell to repair the double strand breaks. The maximum yield of double strand breaks after oxic γ-irradiation was approximately 1.7 breaks/krad/1010Daltons, corresponding to 1 break per 610 eV. (U.K.)