Summary
The example of thymine-(methyl-T) demonstrates that in the case of radiation damage to one type of molecule different dose-effect curves will occur depending on the state of the molecule. Radiation-induced tritium cleavage from an aerated aqueous solution of thymine-(methyl-T) shows a linear dose dependence without threshold, tritium cleavage from solid thymine-(methyl-T) follows a sigmoid dose-effect curve with threshold.
TheG-values for the tritium cleavage from dissolved thymine-(methyl-T) depend on the concentration of the solution, while theG-values for the tritium cleavage from solid thymine-(methyl-T) depend on the dose.
The extent of radiation damage in the solid state and in solution is subject to comparative analysis, and the difference in dose-effect relations is discussed.
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Merwitz, O., Otto, R. Linear and sigmoid dose-effect relations: Investigations with gamma-irradiated thymine-(methyl-T) in aqueous solution and in the solid state. Radiat Environ Biophys 11, 69–77 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323102
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323102