QUANTIFICATION OF PHOTODIMERS FROM ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION-INDUCED DNA DAMAGE IN THE SEA ANEMONE, AIPTASIA PALLIDA USING ENDONUCLEASE SENSITIVE SITES (ESS)

Abstract

Tropical littoral zones offer biologically harmful environments to marine invertebrates due to high levels of exposure to ultraviolet radiation. I documented the extent of DNA damage in the sea anemone Aiptasia pallida under laboratory conditions by applying UVR to live animals as well as pooled DNA that had previously been extracted from A. pallida. Cultured A. pallida from Walsingham Pond, Bermuda were subjected to varying lengths of UVR exposure to quantify DNA damage in the form of number of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD's). An endonuclease was applied to those treated with UVR to determine varying amounts of DNA damage. Samples without endonuclease were more significant compared to those treated with endonuclease. Overall, all treatments were not statistically significant at the 0.05 alpha level. Small sample sizes and the inability to extract DNA efficiently without causing damage to the controls, were not found to follow a specific pattern.