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Low Oxygen Enhancement Ratios for Radiosensitive Bacterial Strains, and the Probable Interaction of Two Types of Primary Lesion

Abstract

WHEN exposed to ionizing radiation, bacterial strains which are deficient in ability to by-pass or repair damage to nucleic acid have lower oxygen enhancement ratios (OERs) than their more radioresistant parents1. This was predicted from a model in which the principal responsibility for the oxygen effect is attributed to a primary lesion of “type O”, whereas a different primary lesion, “type N”, is more easily repaired or by-passed by some strains than others. With certain strains, notably Escherichia coli B, the lethal effects of type N lesions are readily modified by post-irradiation culture conditions. The greater the extent of repair of type N damage, the higher the OER2,3.

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ALPER, T. Low Oxygen Enhancement Ratios for Radiosensitive Bacterial Strains, and the Probable Interaction of Two Types of Primary Lesion. Nature 217, 862–863 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/217862a0

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