| Abstract Detail
Physiological Section Zaidi, Sahar [1], Khatoon, Surayya [2]. In situ effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on PMC meiosis of some species of natural flora in the vicinity of high-voltage power transmission lines. Most of the available reports on the effects of EMF on plants are based upon lab-designed experiments, involving one or two plant species at a time, with some specified duration of exposure. Only one or two studies are available on the effects of long-term exposure of plants to EMF in the close vicinity of high-voltage power transmission lines. The present work involved the study of PMC meiosis in 30 plant species of natural flora, collected from the close vicinity of 66 kV, 132 kV, 220 kV, and 500 kV power transmission lines in the suburban parts of Karachi and semi-natural ecosystems along inter-cities highways. The percentage of PMC with meiotic abnormalities was found significantly higher than that of control specimens (Z-test, p<0.05*-0.001***). The frequency of meiotic abnormalities showed an increase with increase in the power line voltage except for few discrepancies at 220 kV. The range of meiotic abnormalities in the test specimens was 8.52% to 66.67%; which is much higher than the range reported by various workers in lab designed experiments, indicating that the long-term exposure in the open environment has far greater genotoxic effects.
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1 - Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science, and Technology, Botany, Department of Botany, FUUAST, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
2 - University of Karachi, Botany, Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
Keywords:
Electromagnetic field
PMC meiosis
High-voltage power transmission lines
Genotoxicity
Semi-natural ecosystem
Natural flora
meiotic abnormalities.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for BSA Sections
Session: 39
Location: Wasatch B/Cliff Lodge - Level C
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Time: 9:15 AM
Number: 39002
Abstract ID:575 |
