THE MICRONUCLEUS TEST APPLIED TO Vicia faba ROOT MERISTEM CELLS EXPOSED TO X-RAYS OR ULTRASOUND

Resumen

X-irradiation (200R) but not ultrasound (1.1 MHz, 8 W/cm² spatial peakintensity, 1 min continuous wave exposure) induced a statistically significant increase in the frequency of micronuclei in root meristem cells of Vicia faba 6 to 36 hours post exposure. The distribution of autoradiographic  ³H-label among cells with nuclei and micronuclei for control and X-irradiated cells was comparable.
The data further confirm that (1) a clinically used level of ultrasound does not appear to induce breakage types of chromosomal anomalies and (2) micronuclei can perform DNA synthesis, often in concert with the parental nucleus.