Sister-chromatid exchange in cultured lymphocytes of ewes and their newborn lambs

The incidence of sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) in cultured lymphocytes of ewes and their newborn lambs was determined using the BrdU-Giemsa technique. In all ewe-lamb pairs, the SCE rate in the lambs was less than that of the ewes. The mean SCE frequencies per chromosome of the ewes after lambing and of the newborn lambs were 0.1909 and 0.1581, respectively. The statistical analysis shows that a significant difference exists between SCE in the adult female sheep and their lambs. At the same time, a negative correlation was observed between SCE rate and cell proliferation. The results of this study are compared with those of previous reports on age-dependency of SCE.