Early mouse embryos exhibit strain variation in radiation-induced sister-chromatid exchange: relationship with DNA repair.

Although mature mammalian sperm are incapable of DNA repair, repair of damaged sperm DNA can occur after fertilization, as the sperm head decondenses and forms the male pronucleus. To quantify the cytogenetic effects of damage to sperm DNA we adapted the sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) test for use in early mouse embryos. After ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of sperm, eggs were fertilized in vitro and cultured for 2 cell cycles in medium containing fluorodeoxyuridine and bromodeoxyuridine; chromosomes were then prepared for SCE analysis. We found that UV-induced SCEs could be detected at the second cleavage division, and that eggs of different strains showed different frequencies of SCEs when fertilized by damaged sperm of a single strain. These results may indicate strain-specific differences in DNA repair of UV-induced DNA lesions by the early mouse embryo.