A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Fitness loss and germline mutations in barn swallows breeding in Chernobyl
Authors: Ellegren H, Lindgren G, Primmer CR, Moller AP
Publisher: MACMILLAN MAGAZINES LTD
Publication year: 1997
Journal:: Nature
Journal name in source: NATURE
Journal acronym: NATURE
Volume: 389
Issue: 6651
First page : 593
Last page: 596
Number of pages: 4
ISSN: 0028-0836
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/39303
Abstract
The severe nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 resulted in the worst reported accidental exposure of radioactive material to free-living organisms(1). Short-term effects on human populations inhabiting polluted areas include increased incidence of thyroid cancer(2), infant leukaemia(3), and congenital malformations in newborns(4). Two recent studies(5,6) have reported, although with some controversy(7,8), that germline mutation rates were increased in humans and voles living close to Chernobyl, but little is known about the viability of the organisms affected(9). Here we report an increased frequency of partial albinism, a morphological aberration associated with a loss of fitness, among barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, breeding close to Chernobyl. Heritability estimates indicate that mutations causing albinism were at least partly of germline origin. Furthermore, evidence for an increased germline mutation rate was obtained from segregation analysis at two hypervariable microsatellite loci, indicating that mutation events in barn swallows from Chernobyl were two-to tenfold higher than in birds from control areas in Ukraine and Italy.
The severe nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 resulted in the worst reported accidental exposure of radioactive material to free-living organisms(1). Short-term effects on human populations inhabiting polluted areas include increased incidence of thyroid cancer(2), infant leukaemia(3), and congenital malformations in newborns(4). Two recent studies(5,6) have reported, although with some controversy(7,8), that germline mutation rates were increased in humans and voles living close to Chernobyl, but little is known about the viability of the organisms affected(9). Here we report an increased frequency of partial albinism, a morphological aberration associated with a loss of fitness, among barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, breeding close to Chernobyl. Heritability estimates indicate that mutations causing albinism were at least partly of germline origin. Furthermore, evidence for an increased germline mutation rate was obtained from segregation analysis at two hypervariable microsatellite loci, indicating that mutation events in barn swallows from Chernobyl were two-to tenfold higher than in birds from control areas in Ukraine and Italy.
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