Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Germline DNA

Wheat mutation rate after Chernobyl

Nature volume 407, pages 583–584 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 has generated concern over the genetic consequences of chronic exposure to radiation. Here we describe a new approach to monitoring germline mutation in plants and find evidence for a remarkably strong induction of germline mutation in wheat upon chronic exposure to ionizing radiation produced by the Chernobyl accident.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kovalchuk, I., Kovalchuk, O., Arkhipov, A. & Hohn, B. Nature Biotechnol. 16, 1054–1057 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Roder, M. S. et al. Genetics 149, 2007– 2023 (1998).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Moiseev, A. & Ivanov, V. Directory for Dosimetry and Radiation Hygiene (Atomizdat, Moscow, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kovalchuk, O. et al. Mutat. Res. 449, 47– 56 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Shields, R. Nature 365, 297–298 ( 1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Frankenberg-Schwager, M. Radiat. Environ. Biophys. 29, 273– 292 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sadamoto, S. et al. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 65, 549– 557 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dubrova, Y. E., Plumb, M., Brown, J. & Jeffreys, A. J. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 74, 689–696 ( 1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Crow, J. F. & Kimura, M. An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory (Harper, New York, 1970).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Friedrich Miescher Institute, Novartis Research Foundation, PO Box 2543, Basel, CH-4002, Switzerland

    Olga Kovalchuk, Barbara Hohn & Igor Kovalchuk

  2. Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Yuri E. Dubrova

  3. Chernobyl Scientific and Technical Center of International Research, Shkolnaya Str. 6, Chernobyl, 255620, Ukraine

    Andrey Arkhipov

Authors
  1. Olga Kovalchuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuri E. Dubrova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrey Arkhipov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Barbara Hohn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Igor Kovalchuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olga Kovalchuk.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kovalchuk, O., Dubrova, Y., Arkhipov, A. et al. Wheat mutation rate after Chernobyl. Nature 407, 583–584 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35036692

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35036692

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing