biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 57:783-787, 2013 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0345-x

Zinc induces DNA damage in tobacco roots

D. Procházková^1,*, N. Wilhelmová¹, D. Pavlíková², J. Száková², T. Gichner¹

¹ Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

² Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

We applied the alkaline version of the single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) to seedlings of heterozygous tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. var. xanthi) treated with zinc acetate dihydrate (20 to 80 mM Zn²⁺ for 2 h or 2 to 12 mM Zn²⁺ for 24 h). A dose dependent increase in DNA damage expressed by the tail moment values were observed in nuclei isolated from the roots after 2 and 24 h Zn²⁺ treatments. In contrast, Zn²⁺ did not induce significant DNA damage to leaf nuclei, with the exception of 10 or 12 mM Zn²⁺ for 24 h. Somatic mutations, identified as dark green, yellow, and dark green/yellow double sectors on the pale green tobacco leaves were not detected after any Zn²⁺ treatments. The accumulation of Zn in roots and shoots was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and the Zn content in roots was about three times higher than in shoots.

Keywords: comet assay; ethyl methanesulphonate; Nicotiana tabacu; somatic mutations

Subjects: zinc; DNA damage; comet assay; ethyl methanesulphonate; somatic mutations; tobacco

Received: January 2, 2013; Accepted: April 4, 2013; Published: December 1, 2013  Show citation