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Biological Response of Tradescantia Stamen-hairs to High Levels of Natural Radiation in the Poços de Caldas Plateau

2002; Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar); Volume: 45; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s1516-89132002000300008

1678-4324

Heliana de Azevedo Gomes, Yannick Nouailhetas, Nivaldo Carlos da Silva, Arnaldo Mezrahi, Carlos Eduardo Bonacossa de Almeida, Géraldo Stachetti Rodrigues,

Radiation Effects and Dosimetry

The objective of the present study was to apply a highly sensitive botanical test of mutagenicity (the Tradescantia stamen-hair mutation bioassay) to assess in situ the biological responses induced by naturally occurring radiation in the Poços de Caldas Plateau. The mutagenesis was evaluated in environments presenting gamma radiation exposure rates ranging from 1.5 muR.min-1 up to 100.0 muR.min-1. The results consistently showed only borderline increases in mutation frequencies in plants exposed to areas with high radiation background, as compared to non-exposed plants. It was concluded that the levels of natural radiation prevalent in the Poços de Caldas Plateau were not sufficient to induce significant increases in mutation rate, even in the extremely sensitive Tradescantia stamen hair mutation bioassay and mutagenesis evaluation test could be a useful monitoring system for natural radiation exposure.