Effects of Ion Irradiation on Seedlings Growth Monitored by Ultraweak Delayed Luminescence

Abstract

The optical technique based on the measurement of delayed luminescence emitted from the biological samples has demonstrated its ability to provide valid and predictive information on the functional status of various biological systems. We want to extend this technique to study the effect of ionizing radiation on biological systems. In particular we are interested in the action of ion beams, used for therapeutic purposes or to increase the biological diversity. In general, the assessment of the damage that radiation produces both in the target objects and in the surrounding tissues, requires considerable time because is based on biochemical analysis or on the examination of the evolution of the irradiated systems. The delayed luminescence technique could help to simplify this investigation. We have so started our studies performing irradiations of some relatively simple vegetable models. In this paper we report results obtained from mung bean (Vigna radiata) seeds submitted to a 12C ion beam at the energy of 62 MeV/nucleon. The dry seeds were irradiated at doses from 50 to 7000 Gy. The photoinduced delayed luminescence of each seed before and after ion irradiation was measured. The growth of seedlings after irradiation was compared with that of untreated seeds. A growth reduction on increasing the dose was registered. The results show strong correlations between the ion irradiation dose, seeds growth and delayed luminescence intensity. In particular, the delayed luminescence intensity is correlated by a logistic function to the seedlings elongation and, after performing a suitable measurement campaign based on blind tests, it could become a tool able to predict the growth of seeds after ion irradiation. Moreover these results demonstrate that measurements of delayed luminescence could be used as a fast and non-invasive technique to check the effects of ion beams on relatively simple biological systems.

Ion beam irradiation mutagenesis in rye (Secale cereale L.), linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.)

“…For example, in mung bean (Vigna radiata Wilcz. ), seedling elongation / growth rate was negatively correlated with irradiation dose (Grasso et al 2016).…”

Applications of Delayed Luminescence for tomato fruit quality assessment across varied Sicilian cultivation zones

“…This allowed to explore the potential of DL in different fields, from quality control to clinical investigations. In the agri-food sector, the technique has been used to assess the germination capacity of seeds [ 12 , 13 ], photosynthetic activity in plant leaves and the ripening of fruits that lose chlorophyll as a result of ripening [ 3 ]. In this regard, a study carried out on tomato fruits at different stages of ripening has highlighted significant changes in the emissions of DL related to the color of fruits and to their respiration [ 14 ].…”

Exploring the behaviour of water in glycerol solutions by using delayed luminescence

“…In particular, it has been demonstrated its connection with the integrity of the electron transport chain, as in Photosystem II of plant cells or in Complex I of mitochondrial respiratory chain of human cells. On the basis of obtained results application tools in plant breading [ 35 – 37 ], environment control [ 38 ], cancer research [ 39 – 43 ] and in-vivo measurements of mitochondrial oxygen tension [ 44 ] have been proposed. Moreover, studying the analogous behaviour of condensed matter and biological samples, it was assessed a correlation between the DL signals and the dynamic ordered structures of the samples [ 45 ].…”