Abstract

Maize seedlings of the genotype A1A2C1Wx were fumigated in growth chambers with hydrogen fluoride (HF) at a concentration of about 3 ug/m3. The experiment was run for 1O days, with the first group of treated plants removed from the chambers after 4 days and then at intervals of 2 days. Microsporocyte smears from the treated plants revealed chromosomal aberations that included asynaptic regions, translocations, inversions; and bridges plus fragments or fragments by themselves. It is believed that these abnormalities were due to the physiological effect of HF causing the chromosomes to become sticky and/or to the occurrence of chromatid breakage followed by reunion to form structural changes. These findings indicate that HF is a mutagenic agent.

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