Agrotechnology

The genotoxic effects of cadmium nitrate on cyto-morphological parameters of Capsicum annuum L

2^nd International Conference on Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Hyderabad, India February 03-05, 2014

Rumana Aslam, M Y K Ansari, Sana Choudhary, Towseef Mohsin Bhat and Nusrat Jahan

Posters: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

Mutation breeding has become increasingly popular in recent times as an effective tool for crop improvement. The chief advantages of mutation breeding is its ability to improve a single feature in a variety without significantly altering the otherwise desirable make up of agronomic characters. In this study heavy metal will also be tried to induce mutation. Heavy metals are stable environmental pollutants which are highly toxic to biological organisms.The Excess amount can cause some genotoxic and mutagenic effect inducing cyto-morphological changes. They cause DNA damage and oxidative changes. Moreover, some of these changes may be found beneficial for crop improvement. Plants, which constitute a main link in the food chain, are often used to evaluate the genotoxic and mutagen potential of risk factors, due to the highly preserved structure of their genetic material. The present experiment was design to investigate the genotoxic effects of metal (Cd) on Capsicum annuum L. seeds were treated with 5 different concentrations (i.e. 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm) in the form of nitrate. The result shows that the higher concentrations significantly reduced plant height, pollen fertility, and yield; higher concentrations also caused variations in the plants at the seedling and mature stages. Higher concentrations showed detrimental effects on the pairing of homologous chromosomes and spindle formation. The results also showed that the cytological abnormalities i.e., laggards, bridges, fragments, precocious separation, multivalents were increased with the increasing metal concentrations and the higher frequency of aberration were recorded at the higher concentration (100 ppm). On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that the higher concentrations of Cd are more chromotoxic and mutagenic causing genetic variability in Capsicum annuum L.

Biography :

Rumana Aslam is a Ph.D. research student in Cell and Molecular Biology and Genetics Section in Department of Botany Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh- India-2022. She has also completed M. Phil from the same Department in 2009.