Genotoxic effects of two heavy metals viz. mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) on somatic and gametic cells of soybean were investigated. Seeds were treated with different doses of these heavy metals. | Turk J Biol 31 (2007) 13-18 © TÜB‹TAK Comparative Genotoxic Potential of Mercury and Cadmium in Soybean Girjesh KUMAR, Priyanka RAI Plant Genetics Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211002, . - INDIA Received: Abstract: Genotoxic effects of two heavy metals viz. mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) on somatic and gametic cells of soybean were investigated. Seeds were treated with different doses of these heavy metals. Treatments with Hg and Cd not only reduced the frequency of dividing cells but a wide spectrum of chromosomal abnormalities were also recorded. Pollen fertility was found to be significantly correlated with meiotic irregularities found in the metal treatment sets. It was found that both of these heavy metals are capable of inducing chromosomal aberrations, but Hg is much more genotoxic than Cd, since it induces greater abnormalities. Key Words: Soybean, cadmium, mercury, mitosis, meiosis, pollen fertility Introduction It is impossible to visualize an environment without trace levels of heavy metals. However, anthropogenic activities have concentrated some of these elements in certain areas up to dangerous levels for living organisms (1). Activities such as mining and agriculture have polluted extensive areas throughout the world (2,3). Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) are of special concern because both are found to be genotoxic (4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11). They have been found to create a number of health hazards, even at lower concentrations, through food. Reporting on the carcinogenic activity of these heavy metals on the genetic system of living organisms is an important task of the biologists. Knowledge of the toxic effects of heavy metals on biochemical and physiological processes is potentially useful to establish an index of toxicity. Physical and chemical analysis data alone are probably not enough to evaluate the impact of pollutants on the environment. Furthermore, these measurements are
