In:
Ecological genetics, ECO-Vector LLC, Vol. 18, No. 4 ( 2020-12-12), p. 483-492
Abstract:
Background. The study of the long-term effects of chronic radiation exposure on plants and animals, which are still the subject of scientific discussion, is necessary to understand the consequences of radiation accidents. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, some of the young pines and spruces showed an increased frequency of apical dominance cancelling. The most probable cause of the observed morphoses is associated with damage to the apical meristem of coniferous plants by radiation in the first year of the accident, when they received the highest absorbed doses. If this hypothesis is true, then even 8 years after the accident it will be possible with high degree of probability to detect an increased level of cytogenetic abnormalities in the intercalary meristem of needles of plants from these populations. The aim of this work was to verify this hypothesis. Materials and methods. Five populations of Japanese red pine from territories contaminated with radionuclides as a result of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were investigated. The frequency and spectrum of cytogenetic abnormalities in the intercalary meristem of needles were determined by the ana-telophase analysis. Results. The frequency of aberrant cells in the needles intercalary meristem of Japanese red pine from the contaminated with radionuclides territory statistically significantly exceeds the control level in all impact sites and increases along with the dose rate. Although there is no correlation between the frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities in needles and the presence of cancellation of apical dominance in plants, all pine populations from radioactively contaminated territories are characterized by an increased frequency of both cytogenetic abnormalities and morphoses associated with the cancellation of apical dominance. Conclusion. Radiation damage to the apical meristems of conifers in the first year of the accident, when they received the highest absorbed doses, is the most likely cause of the increased frequency of cancellation of apical dominance in the studied populations of Japanese red pine from the zone affected by the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2411-9202
,
1811-0932
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-18702
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-18703
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-18704
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-18705
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-25192
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-36787
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-36788
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-36795
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-36796
DOI:
10.17816/ecogen18932-36797
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
ECO-Vector LLC
Publication Date:
2020
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