CYTOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MIXED PARTICLE FIELD IRRADIATION IN WHEAT

Dry seeds of two genotypes of winter wheat ZY9 and ZH7 were irradiated by mixed high-energy particle field with different doses of 0, 109, 145, 195, 284 and 560Gy, which was generated from E2 beam lines of LINAC of Beijing Electron Positron Collider. The cytological effects on root tip cell of wheat seeds were studied with the same dosage of γ-rays irradiation as a control. The results showed that the irradiation of mixed high-energy particle field inhibited mitoses and produced various chromosomal aberrations such as micronucleus, chromosome bridges, circular chromosomes and dissociative chromosomes in root tip cells of wheat with significant dose-effects. Higher rate of cytological damages and percentage of chromosome circles and fragments were found in the mixed particle field irradiation than in γ-rays irradiation, indicating in the relative higher biological effects of irradiation of mixed high-energy particle field than those of γ-rays in the M_1 generation of wheat.