Types of cytogenetic abnormalities in apical root meristem of Elodea сanadensis from Yenisei River areas with different types of anthropogenic pollution

Abstract

Background. The spectrum of cytogenetic abnormalities in the apical root meristem of Elodea сanadensis Michx. (elodea) from the Yenisei River was studied depending on the type of anthropogenic pollution. We compared elodea samples from areas with radiation-contaminated sediments (area affected by Rosatom Mining and Chemical Combine, MCC, Zheleznogorsk) and areas with chemical pollution (Krasnoyarsk). Materials and methods. The apical root meristem of elodea was fixed in acetic alcohol (96 % ethanol and glacial acetic acid, 3 : 1) and stained with 1 % aceto-orcein. The cytogenetic analysis of metaphase and ana-telophase elodea cells was carried out with temporal squashed preparations using an Olympus CX31 microscope. Results. At metaphase stage, the predominant types of abnormalities in elodea cells were disoriented chromosomes (up to 9 % of total metaphase cells) and chromosome agglutination (6 %). In the area affected by the MCC an increased content of ring chromosomes in elodea cells was detected, but in terms of frequency of their occurrence no significant differences were revealed between samples from areas with different types of pollution. Among abnormalities at ana-telophase stage, bridges (to 20% of dividing cells) and disoriented chromosomes (up to 8%) dominated. The following abnormalities were also detected: multipolar and asymmetrical mitoses, agglutination and cells with multiple chromosome abnormalities. It was shown that in areas with the highest content of 137Cs in bottom sediments the frequency of cells with bridges and multiple chromosome abnormalities significantly increased as compared to samples from other areas. Conclusion. In the radioactive contamination area of the Yenisei River the spectrum of abnormalities was dominated by chromosome aberrations (bridges, agglutination, chromosome fragmentation) and multiple abnormalities in one and the same cell. In areas with non-radioactive (chemical) contamination of sediments, mitotic spindle irregularities prevailed.

Toxic and mutagenic activities of surface water from the Chumysh River

“…Higher plants are recognized as excellent genetic models to detect environmental mutagens, and are, therefore, frequently used in monitoring studies (Kovalchuk et al, 2001;Shevtsova & Gudkov, 2009;Geras'kin et al, 2011a;Goncharova & Lyashenko, 2011;Sadowska et al, 2011;Khlebova & Ereschenko, 2012;Barberrio, 2013;Kalaev & Popova, 2014;Shevtsova et al, 2014;Alexeyeva et al, 2016;Geras'kin et al, 2016;Medvedeva & Bolsunovsky, 2016;Prysedskyj, 2016).…”