Oxidative Damage and Mutagenic Potency of Fast Neutron and UV-B Radiation in Pollen Mother Cells and Seed Yield of Vicia faba L.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of attention toward free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by exposure of crop plant cells to physical radiations. Henceforth, the current study was planned to compare oxidative stress and mutagenic potential of different irradiation doses of fast neutron (FN) and UV-B on meiotic-pollen mother cells (PMCs), pollen grains (PGs) and seeds yielded from irradiated faba beans seedlings. On the cytogenetic level, each irradiation type had special interference with DNA of PMC and exhibited wide range of mutagenic action on the frequency and type of chromosomal anomalies, fertility of PGs and seed yield productivity based on the irradiation exposure dose and radiation sensitivity of faba bean plants compared with un-irradiated ones. On the molecular level, SDS-PAGE and RPAD-PCR analyses of seeds yielded from irradiated seedlings exhibited distinctive polymorphisms based on size, intensity, appearance, and disappearance of polypeptides bands compared with un-irradiated ones. The total values of protein and DNA polymorphisms reached 88% and 90.80% respectively. The neutron fluency (2.3 x 10(6) n/cm(2)) and UV-B dose for 1 hr were recorded as bio-positive effects. The present study proved that genetic variations revealed by cytogenetic test could be supported by gene expression (alterations in RAPD and protein profiles).