DNA damage in Cicer plant grown on soil polluted with heavy metals

In recent years industrialization is growing rapidly due to which the pollution load in water, air and soil is increasing day by day. Heavy metal pollution of the soil has raised concern in recent years due to its possible impact not only on human health but also on the plant system. To understand the consequences on plant systems, in the present study we cultivated the Cicer plant in soil polluted with heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr and Zn) collected from the Jhansi City of Uttar Pradesh, India with a geographical area of 502.75 thousand hectares. Seeds of Cicer were germinated in polluted soil sites such as T1 (Garden Soil, Control); T2 (Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL)-Industrial); T3 (BHEL-Agricultural); T4 (Bijouli-Industrial); T5 (Bijouli-Agricultural). The effect of soil polluted with the heavy metals was analyzed by studying the percentage of seed germination, radicle length (RL), mitotic index (MI) and chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in root tip meristems. The results revealed that polluted soil with heavy metals T2 (BHEL-Industrial site) and T4 (Bijouli-Industrial site) had a significant impeding effect on the root meristem activity in Cicer as noticed by the reduction in seed germination percentage and RL compared to the control. Additionally, the variation in the percentage of mitotic abnormalities was observed. In general, increased percentage of chromosomal aberrations was observed in root tip cells of seedlings grown in polluted soil. Among these abnormalities laggards, bridges, stickiness, precocious separation and fragments were the most common. The obtained results demonstrated that heavy metal polluted soils led to a significant MI reduction and CA increase in root tip meristems of Cicer.