Gaafar, R., Elshanshory, A., Eldakak, M., Elhiti, M. (2018). Biochemical, Molecular and Mutagenic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Vicia faba L Seedlings. Egyptian Journal of Botany, 58(3), 381-396. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2018.3000.1154
Reda M. Gaafar; Adel Elshanshory; Mohamed R. Eldakak; Mohamed Elhiti. "Biochemical, Molecular and Mutagenic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Vicia faba L Seedlings". Egyptian Journal of Botany, 58, 3, 2018, 381-396. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2018.3000.1154
Gaafar, R., Elshanshory, A., Eldakak, M., Elhiti, M. (2018). 'Biochemical, Molecular and Mutagenic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Vicia faba L Seedlings', Egyptian Journal of Botany, 58(3), pp. 381-396. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2018.3000.1154
Gaafar, R., Elshanshory, A., Eldakak, M., Elhiti, M. Biochemical, Molecular and Mutagenic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Vicia faba L Seedlings. Egyptian Journal of Botany, 2018; 58(3): 381-396. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2018.3000.1154
Biochemical, Molecular and Mutagenic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Vicia faba L Seedlings
Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
Abstract
ELECTROMAGNETIC fields (EMFs) consist of two main components electric and magnetic fields. The magnetic fields are the most deleterious and their photons travel in waves-like pattern. These waves penetrate any biological system causing genetic and biochemical changes. In a trail to explore the effects of EMFs on faba bean as a model plant system during seedling stage at cellular, biochemical, and molecular levels, the high-voltage transmission lines as a source of EMFs and aluminum foil as EMFs shelter were used. The effect of EMF direction was investigated by selecting locations at different distances around the high-voltage transmission lines, where seeds were allowed to germinate under different EMF intensities for 10 days. At cellular level, the results showed that EMFs cause severe cytological abnormalities, such as chromosomal breakage, unoriented chromosomes, micronuclei, stickiness, lagging chromosomes, and cytokinesis failure. Such abnormalities were frequent in the Vicia faba seedlings grown directly under the high-voltage transmission lines, where the intensity was 4051μT and the rate of abnormalities increased by decreasing the distance from EMFs source. At biochemical level, Ca2+ binding proteins showed no distinct marker to EMFs, yet arbitrary profiles were observed. At the molecular level, some unique ISSR banding patterns were detected in the EMFs-exposed seedlings. The results indicated no significant differences between the covered and uncovered aluminum foil treatments. Moreover, the plant samples either in the left or right direction exhibited nonsignificant differences. Taken together, these results suggested that a distance of 200 meters from the high-voltage lines is regarded as a safe distance, the effect of EMFs has not inherited in the upcoming generations and aluminum foil cannot protect against EMFs.