Actively growing and dormant roots of Tradescantia paludosa were exposed to x-rays to compare the radiosensitivity of an actively proliferating tissue with that of one which is not active but is potentially proliferative. The level of effect was ascertained by the degree of change in the rate of root growth 4 days after exposure. Cell population kinetics were measured in control and in irradiated roots to determine whether or not a change was produced either in the number of proliferating cells or in the mitotic cycle duration which was sufficient to explain the altered rate of root growth. Nuclear volumes were also measured to provide an estimate of the relative total target size in actively growing vs. dormant roots. Tritiated thymidine was used to measure the cycle duration and the proportion of cells synthesizing DNA. The results showed that 184 and 305 r respectively were required to reduce the linear root growth rate to 37 per cent of that of the control for actively growing and dormant roots. Mitotic cycle duration, measured 4 days after x-ray exposure, was the same as in the control. The number of proliferating cells, however, was reduced. The rate of cell production in the irradiated roots was reduced to approximately one-half that of the controls. The average nuclear volumes of active and dormant roots were 733 and 491 µ3 respectively; thus the difference in the number of roentgens required to reduce growth to 37 per cent of that of the control can be attributed to the different average nuclear volumes. Therefore, the experiments suggest that part if not most of the differences in sensitivity between an actively dividing and an essentially non-dividing meristematic cell population resides in their different average nuclear volumes. Thus the law of Bergonie and Tribondeau needs to be reinterpreted, since the basic reason for the differences is secondary to whether or not the meristematic cells are proliferating.
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1 July 1965
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July 01 1965
RADIATION EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH RATE AND CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF ACTIVELY GROWING AND DORMANT ROOTS OF TRADESCANTIA PALUDOSA
Jack Van't Hof,
Jack Van't Hof
From the Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
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A. H. Sparrow
A. H. Sparrow
From the Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
Search for other works by this author on:
Jack Van't Hof
From the Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
A. H. Sparrow
From the Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
Received:
October 27 1964
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Copyright © 1965 by The Rockefeller University Press
1965
J Cell Biol (1965) 26 (1): 187–199.
Article history
Received:
October 27 1964
Citation
Jack Van't Hof, A. H. Sparrow; RADIATION EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH RATE AND CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF ACTIVELY GROWING AND DORMANT ROOTS OF TRADESCANTIA PALUDOSA . J Cell Biol 1 July 1965; 26 (1): 187–199. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.26.1.187
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