TIME Brags About Spinning Bufferfly Mutations From Fukushima Radiation

(a) Representative morphological abnormalities of the field-caught individuals. Insets are enlargement of the boxed areas. The tarsus of the left hindleg was structurally abnormal (Hirono, left),the tarsus of the right foreleg was not developed at all (Fukushima, second from left), the right antenna (an arrowhead) was elongated with abnormal structure and colouration (Motomiya, second from right), and the wing colour-patterns and wing shape were modified as indicated by arrows (Iwaki and Fukushima, right). All scale bars indicate 1.0 mm with the exception of the rightmost bar, which is 1.0 cm.

(b)Scatter plot of ground radiation dose and abnormality rate of the field-caught adults. Pearson correlation coefficient r = 0.84 (Holm-corrected p = 0.13).

(c) Representative abnormalities in the F₁ generation. The left three panels indicate malformations of left foreleg tarsus (an arrowhead) (Takahagi F₁, top), tumor-like solid protuberance (arrowheads) in the ventral side of the thorax (Takahagi F₁, middle), and dented eyes (Fukushima F₁, bottom). Scale bars in the left three panels all indicate 1.0 mm. Wing colour-pattern modifications (arrows) of the F₁ samples were shown on the right: from left to right, Iwaki, Iwaki, Motomiya, Hirono, and Takahagi (top), and Takahagi, Motomiya, Motomiya, Fukushima, Motomiya, and Motomiya (bottom). Scale bar in the wing panel indicates 1.0 cm.

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The biological impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly

The collapse of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant caused a massive release of radioactive materials to the environment. A prompt and reliable system for evaluating the biological impacts of this accident on animals has not been available. Here we show that the accident caused physiological and genetic damage to the pale grass blue Zizeeria maha, a common lycaenid butterfly in Japan. We collected the first-voltine adults in the Fukushima area in May 2011, some of which showed relatively mild abnormalities. The F₁ offspring from the first-voltine females showed more severe abnormalities, which were inherited by the F₂ generation. Adult butterflies collected in September 2011 showed more severe abnormalities than those collected in May. Similar abnormalities were experimentally reproduced in individuals from a non-contaminated area by external and internal low-dose exposures. We conclude that artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant caused physiological and genetic damage to this species.

Figures at a glance

Introduction

Massive amount of radioactive materials were released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) to environment due to the Great East Japan Earthquake^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. However, precise information on exactly what occurred and on what is still ongoing is yet to be established^{7, 8}. This lack of information raises serious concerns about biological influences on living organisms that could ultimately produce long-term destruction of ecosystems and cause chronic diseases. Prompt and reliable evaluation of the biological influences of the artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP is lacking, and only a few studies have been performed to date^{9, 10}. In the case of the Chernobyl accident, changes in species composition and phenotypic aberration in animals^{11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17} and an increase in the incidence of thyroid and lymph cancers in humans¹⁸ have been reported. Similarly, an increase in the incidence of cancers has been reported for atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan¹⁹. However, the effects of low-dose radiation exposure on animals, including humans, are still a matter of debate^{20, 21, 22} despite the relatively rigorous documentation of physiological damage to animals from external high-dose radiation exposure. Moreover, one of the greatest concerns is the possible inheritance of the adverse effects of exposure by the offspring of the exposed individuals. However, experimental demonstration of genetic mutations in the germ-line cells that are inherited by the offspring of radiation-exposed parents has been scarce, although the germ-line damage was shown in barn swallows²³.

We address these important issues in connection with the recent Fukushima Dai-ich NPP accident. We use the pale grass blue butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) as an indicator species to evaluate the environmental conditions. A reliable rearing method has been established for this species²⁴. Butterflies are generally considered useful environmental indicators^{10, 15, 25, 26}, and this species is particularly suitable for this purpose because it is widespread in Japan, including the Fukushima area, and because its wing colour patterns are sensitive to environmental changes^{24, 27}. In the past, this species was used to evaluate the ecological risk associated with transgenic maize pollen^{28, 29}.

The meltdown and explosion of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP occurred on 12 March 2011, when Z. maha was overwintering as larvae. On that date and thereafter, these larvae were exposed to artificial radiation not only externally but also internally from ingested food. In this study, we examine possible physiological and genetic changes in this butterfly in the Fukushima area resulting from damage by artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ich NPP. We also evaluate the risk of external exposure and that of internal exposure to ingested radionuclides.

Abnormalities in field-caught individuals and their F₁ offspring

We collected 144 first-voltine adults (111 males and 33 females) from 10 localities (Shiroishi, Fukushima, Motomiya, Koriyama, Hirono, Iwaki, Takahagi, Mito, Tsukuba, and Tokyo) approximately 2 months after the accident on 13–18 May 2011 (Fig. 1a; Supplementary Table 1). Most of the collected adults appeared morphologically and behaviorally normal, but mild morphological abnormalities were detected in some individuals upon close inspections (Fig. 1b–e; Supplementary Table 2). The overall abnormality rate for 7 localities (excluding Shiroishi, Koriyama, and Tokyo to allow comparisons with the second phase of field work in September) was 12.4% (Table 1). The male forewing size (from the base to the apical end) was different among populations (ANOVA, df = 7, F = 4.0, p = 0.00093); it was significantly reduced in the Fukushima population in comparison with the Tsukuba population (t test with pooled SD, p = 0.00091, Holm-corrected by 28 combinatorial pairs, excluding Shiroishi and Koriyama due to small sample sizes) and with the Hirono, Tokyo, and Takahagi populations (t test with pooled SD, p = 0.018, 0.018, and 0.038, respectively, Holm-corrected by 28 pairs as above) (Fig. 1c). The male forewing size was negatively correlated with the ground radiation dose at the collection localities (Pearson correlation coefficient r = −0.74, df = 8, p = 0.029, Holm-corrected by 2 pairs [ground radiation dose and distance from the NPP]) (Fig. 1d).

(a) Collection localities. A red dot indicates the location of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP. Black dots and black half dots indicate the cities from which the first-voltine adults were collected. Brown dots and brown half dots indicate cities from which the host plant leaves were collected for the internal exposure experiment. All experiments were performed in Okinawa, marked by a blue dot. Inset shows the collection localities around the NPP. (b) Representative wings with normal (leftmost) and aberrant colour patterns. Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 indicate the first, second, third, and fourth spot arrays, respectively, and “D” indicates the discal spot. Red arrows indicate loss, dislocation, and weak expression of spots (left individual), weak expression and dislocation of spots (middle individual), and enlargement of spots (right individual). These samples were caught in Mito except for the leftmost aberrant specimen, which was caught in Iwaki. Scale bar, 1.0 cm. (c) Male forewing sizes from various localities. The first quartile and third quartile were indicated by horizontal bars at the bottom and top of the box, respectively. Median is indicated as the centre line inside the box. Outliers were indicated by dots. A red dot indicates the mean value and a red bar the standard deviation (SD). Holm-corrected p-values are shown, which were obtained for pairwise comparisons among 8 localities using t tests with pooled SD. Only male samples were used here because when the female samples were used to obtain eggs, broken wings resulted from the egg collection procedure. Samples from Shiroishi (n = 5) and Koriyama (n = 3) were excluded because of small sample sizes. (d) Scatter plot of the male forewing size and ground radiation dose at each collection locality. Pearson correlation coefficient r = −0.74 (Holm-corrected p = 0.029). (e) Representative morphological abnormalities. From left to right, dented eyes (Shiroishi), deformed left eye (Iwaki), deformed right palpus (Takahagi), and deformed wing shape (Fukushima). Arrowheads indicate deformation. Scale bars, 0.50 mm with the exception of the rightmost bar, which is 1.0 cm.

Read Entire Study: http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/120809/srep00570/full/srep00570.html