Over the last decade, communication industries have witnessed a tremendous expansion, while, the biological effects of electromagnetic waves have not been fully elucidated. Current study aimed at evaluating the mutagenic effect of long-term exposure to 900-MHz radiation on alpha-Int1 gene sequences of Candida albicans. A standard 900 MHz radiation generator was used for radiation. 10 ml volumes from a stock suspension of C. albicans were transferred into 10 polystyrene tubes. Five tubes were exposed at 4 °C to a fixed magnitude of radiation with different time periods of 10, 70, 210, 350 and 490 h. The other 5 tubes were kept far enough from radiation. The samples underwent genomic DNA extraction. PCR amplification of alpha-Int1 gene sequence was done using one set of primers. PCR products were resolved using agarose gel electrophoresis and the nucleotide sequences were determined. All samples showed a clear electrophoretic band around 441 bp and further sequencing revealed the amplified DNA segments are related to alpha-Int1 gene of the yeast. No mutations in the gene were seen in radiation exposed samples. Long-term exposure of the yeast to mobile phone radiation under the above mentioned conditions had no mutagenic effect on alpha-Int1 gene sequence.
Keywords: Alpha-Int1 protein; Candida albicans; Microwaves; Mutagenesis; PCR.