SGER: Mutation Rates and Fitness in the Barn Swallows of Chernobyl

1986年切尔诺贝利核反应堆爆炸和随后的核火灾导致了有史以来规模最大的人为生态灾难之一。大量高放射性物质广泛分布在东欧各地，估计在5000万至2亿居里之间，乌克兰北部地区在未来数万年内仍将受到污染。核电站周围地区受到放射性尘埃的严重污染。据报道，切尔诺贝利和白俄罗斯周围人群中甲状腺癌、儿童白血病、染色体异常、先天性畸形和微卫星不稳定的频率都有相当大的增加。我们将与法国国家研究科学中心(CNRS)、西班牙巴达乔斯的Extramadura大学和乌克兰基辅国家自然历史博物馆的科学家合作，调查放射性污染物对欧洲一种常见鸟类-谷仓燕子-Hirundo rustica的影响。我们将比较形态不对称、免疫学分析、可见突变(例如，白化病)以及微卫星DNA和p53基因(一种经常与人类癌症相关的基因)的突变，并测量生活在放射性沉降区的燕子与生活在未受污染地区的燕子的后代存活率和雏鸟存活率。由于谷仓燕子最常与人类居住有关，因此这种物种是可以进行科学研究的，也可以作为研究放射性污染对野生动物和人类种群的潜在长期影响的模型。

0226153MousseauThe explosion and subsequent nuclear fire ar the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1986 led to one of the largest scale human-induced ecological disasters ever. Vast amounts of highly radioactive materials, estimated to be in the range of 50-200 million curies, were spread widely across the Eastern European landscape, and the northern lands of Ukraine will remain contaminated for tens of thousands of years to come.The regions surrounding the power plant were heavily contaminated by radioactive fallout. A considerable increase has been reported in thyroid cancer, childhood leukemia, chromosomal aberrations, and the frequency of congenital malformations and microsatellite instability in human populations around Chernobyl and Belarus.In collaboration with scientists at the French Centre National de Researche Scientifique (CNRS), The University of Extramadura in Badajoz, Spain, and the National Museum of Natural History in Kiev, Ukraine, we will investigate the effect of radioactive contaminants on a common bird species of Europe, the barn swallow, Hirundo rustica. We will compare morphological asymmetry, immunological assays, visible mutations (e.g., albinism), and mutations in microsatellite DNA and in the p53 genes (a gene often associated with cancers in human), as well as measure rates of offspring survival to fledging, in swallows living in the fallout area vs. in swallows living in uncontaminated areas. Because barn swallows most often occur in association with human habitation, this species is accessible for scientific study and can also serve as a model for studying the potential long-term effects of radioactive contamination on wildlife and human populations.