Persistent Induction of Somatic Reversions of the Pink-Eyed Unstable Mutation in F1 Mice Born to Fathers Irradiated at the Spermatozoa Stage

Abstract Shiraishi, K., Shimura, T., Taga, M., Uematsu, N., Gondo, Y., Ohtaki, M., Kominami, R. and Niwa, O. Persistent Induction of Somatic Reversions of the Pink-Eyed Unstable Mutation in F1 Mice Born to Fathers Irradiated at the Spermatozoa Stage. Radiat. Res. 157, 661–667 (2002). Untargeted mutation and delayed mutation are features of radiation-induced genomic instability and have been studied extensively in tissue culture cells. The mouse pink-eyed unstable (pun) mutation is due to an intragenic duplication of the pink-eyed dilution locus and frequently reverts back to the wild type in germ cells as well as in somatic cells. The reversion event can be detected in the retinal pigment epithelium as a cluster of pigmented cells (eye spot). We have investigated the reversion pum in F1 mice born to irradiated males. Spermatogonia-stage irradiation did not affect the frequency of the reversion in F1 mice. However, 6 Gy irradiation at the spermatozoa stage resulted in an approximately twofold increase in t...