Radiation Studies in Lens culinaris: A Comparative Study of Meiotic Aberrations Induced by Acute and Chronic Gamma Radiations

Abstract

The large seeded and small seeded varieties of Lens culinaris were given acute and chronic exposure of gamma radiations. Their chromosomal aberrations during microsporogenesis of M₁ generation were compared.
In the chronic treatment, the univalents, trivalents, tetravalents, laggards and fragments registered a decreasing trend with the increasing radiation dose. Whereas, all the aberrations except univalents were found to go on increasing with the total acute dose received. The univalents here showed a depression at the highest dose.
The other aberrations viz. tetravalents, multivalents, cells with clumped configurations, bridges at the anaphase/telophase, unequal pollen grains, and pollen sterility were on the increase at the corresponding higher doses. This was common in both types of treatments. The physiological effects in the case of chronic treatments was mainly attributed to the existing differences from the plants treated with the acute radiations.