GAMMA RAY THERMOLUMINESCENCE IN NUCLEIC ACID CONSTITUENTS

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Abstract
Abstract— The phenomenon of gamma ray thermoluminescence has been studied in DNA, RNA, and their various constituents. Single peaks in the glow curves have been usually observed at 110–120°K except in cytosine which shows two peaks at 135°K and 180°K. Adenine and cytosine show very intense thermoluminescence whereas the intensity of light emitted from thymine, uracil and guanine is very small. The addition of sugar and sugar‐phosphate groups to the base‐molecules affects only the amount of light emitted. The thermoluminescence emission spectra lie in the same wavelength region as the u.v. induced phosphorescence, suggesting a triplet‐singlet transition. The spectral content of DNA thermoluminescence seems to be superposition of contributions from its constituents. An attempt is made to explain the phenomenon as a result of electron‐cation recombination.

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