Effect of Herbicide Glean on Mitosis, Chromosomes and Nucleic Acids in Allium cepa and Vida faba Root Meristems

Evidences accumulated in the past two decades have indicated that a countless number of pesticides are capable of inducing chromosomal damage in crop plants. A review of the various types of chromosomal anomalies and the pesticides that produced them was given by Grant (1982). Moreover a link between chromosomal anomalies produced by these compounds and gene mutation has been confirmed (Wuu and Grant 1966, Panda and Sharma 1979, Singh et al. 1980, Gichner et al. 1982). The use of chromosomal aberrations, induced by pesticides in crop plants, is, therefore, being accepted as indicators of genetic damage (Ma 1982). The use of plant root tips, particularly those of Allium cepa and Vicia faba, as a bioassay test system for the genotoxicity of pesticides has shown extremely good correlation with the bacterial and mammalian systems (de Kergommeaux et al. 1983). Another common effect of pesticides is the inhibition of cell division. Some workers have attributed the inhibition of cell division by these chemicals to an action on DNA and RNA in the cells (Tomkins and Grant 1972, Chand and Roy 1981, Yoshida et al. 1983). Chromosomal damage produced by pesticides may also involve an action on DNA (Grant 1978). In this paper the results of a study on the effect of a new herbicide on mitosis, DNA and RNA and chromosomes in A. cepa and V. faba is reported. The herbicide used in this study is glean which is a pre- or post-emergence herbicide against a wide range of weeds. It is a product of Dupont de Nemours and Co. and its chemical name is 2-chloro-N-C 4-methoxy-6-methyl-l, 3, 5-triazin-2-yl aminocarbonyl-benzensulfonamide. © 1987, Japan Mendel Society, International Society of Cytology. All rights reserved.