Micronuclei frequency in circulating erythrocytes from rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) subjected to radiation, an image analysis and flow cytometric study

Abstract

1. Rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to a single X-ray dose of 4Gy. 2. The frequency of micronuclei in the peripheral erythrocytes was investigated at regular intervals up to 58 days after the exposure. 3. A flow cytometric method and a semi-automatic image analysis method were used to estimate the micronuclei frequency. 4. The results show that both methods can detect an increased frequency of micronuclei in peripheral erythrocytes from exposed fish. 5. However, the semi-automatic image analysis method was the most stable and sensitive.