nuclear-news

Ecology and Evolution (Journal), Morphological abnormalities in gall-forming aphids in a radiation-contaminated area near Fukushima Daiichi: selective impact of fallout?, Shin-ichi Akimoto, Graduate School of Agriculture at Hokkaido University, 2014:Excerpts from Abstract: “This study compared the morphology and viability of gall-forming aphids between the Fukushima population and control populations […] proportions of abnormalities and mortality were significantly higher in Fukushima [and] suggests that radioactive contamination had deleterious effects”

Excerpts on Morphological Abnormalities: “genetic investigations in the Fukushima area are an urgent issue. […] Aphids are tiny, soft-bodied insects [284 were collected] from the Fukushima area [32 km from Daiichi in June 2012 and] compared with 1559 T. sorini first instars from seven control areas and 1677 T. nigriabdominalis first instars from six control areas […] abnormalities were classified into three categories […] Of the 167 T. sorini first instars collected in Fukushima, 13.2% exhibited [abnormalities — Fukuoka samples] exhibited no abnormalities. […]

The incidence of morphological abnormalities in Fukushima was significantly higher than […] on average, 3.8% for other areas. The Fukushima samples were peculiar because they contained four level-3 malformed individuals. One of the individuals had a bifurcated abdomen with 2 caudae [an] intense malformation […] The second […] had an empty, distended abdomen and a projection on the joint of the mid-femur and tibia; [possibly] a homologous leg structure. The third […] bore a large protuberance on the abdomen [and a] solid protuberance at the base of the mid-femur. [The fourth] had 1 hind leg with apical segments missing due to necrosis and another hind leg that was atrophied […] except for Fukushima, a level-3 malformation was found only once in 1559 individuals (0.064%). […] In T. radicicola, for which only three galls were collected […] abnormalities in all of the galls [were found.] one exhibited necrosis in three legs […] and one lost a mid-tibia […]

Fukushima samples notably contained not only many aberrant first instars but also five highly deformed first instars [(1.76%, over 27 times rate seen elsewhere)]  To my knowledge, such deformations have not previously been reported in aphids. […] The proportion of abnormalities detected in Fukushima was probably underestimated […] this study suggests that of several potential factors, radioactive fallout from Fukushima […] is most likely to have had the strongest effect”Excerpts on Mortality: “Fukushima was 14.4%, which was significantly higher than the mortality in Iwamizawa (1.9%–3.2%) […] larval mortality of T. nigriabdominalis [in] Fukushima population (16.9%) was significantly higher than that in the Sapporo population (1.3%) […] Comparison with a Hokkaido population suggests that [those] in Fukushima more often fail to develop […] Such high mortality during development”View all the published photos here