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Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants
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Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 23941

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gustavo Turqueto Duarte

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Guest Editor
Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN), Unit for Biosphere Impact Studies, Boeretang 200 - 2400 Mol, Belgium
Interests: plant adaptation to stress; responses to irradiation; plant development; transcriptomics; GWAS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Stanislav A Geras'kin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Kievskoe shosse 109 km, 249032 Obninsk, Russia
Interests: chronic radiation effects on plants; Chernobyl disaster; Fukushima disaster; adaptation; cytogenetics; reproduction; phytohormones; antioxidant system
Dr. Polina Yu. Volkova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, 2440 Geel, Belgium
Interests: plant radiation biology; low doses; abiotic stress; radiation ecology; antioxidants; transcriptomics; metabolomics; molecular mechanisms of hormesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Although radioactive contamination is among the most long-lasting anthropogenic impacts to the environment, the effects of chronic radiation exposure to natural plant populations are still poorly understood. Ionizing radiation (IR) derives from natural sources or from radionuclides resulting from anthropogenic activities, such as nuclear industry, weapons testing, and radiation accidents. Indeed, studies of chronic radiation effects in territories affected by Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents can shed light on fundamental mechanisms of plant’s response to stress.

The consequences of chronic exposure to IR depend on the dose rates, exposure duration, and on the efficiency of the organism’s damage counteracting mechanisms. Because of the direct oxidation of biomolecules, disruption of hydrogen bonds, and radiolysis of water molecules, IR can cause DNA damage and disturb the cellular redox homeostasis. Therefore, the radiosensitivity of each plant species depends on its genome size, and on the efficiency of its protection mechanisms. Nevertheless, under certain conditions, low-dose irradiation can benefit plant growth and development, an effect known as radiation hormesis.

Understanding the consequences of IR to plants is important for environmental protection, agriculture, and space science. Most of our knowledge about the effects of radiation exposure to plants is based on acute high-dose studies. Data regarding the radiobiological consequences of chronic low-dose irradiation is still lagging behind, both under field and controlled conditions.

In this Special Issue, we will focus on the effects of IR exposure to plants. Relevant subject areas range from biological effects of chronic radiation exposure in radionuclide-contaminated areas or areas with increased natural radioactivity, to effects of chronic irradiation of plants under controlled laboratory conditions. Original research manuscripts should contain clear data on source of irradiation, dose rates or absorbed doses and on growth stage of plants during exposure. Manuscripts (original research, perspectives, or reviews) on the following topics regarding IR exposure to plants are welcomed:

  • biological effects observed in response to IR dose ranges, including on different biological organization levels;
  • comparison of analyses performed in the field and under controlled conditions;
  • description of adaptation mechanisms;
  • evaluation of multi-generational effects on developmental endpoints, including roots, meristems, plant reproductive structures;
  • effects of simultaneous exposure to radiation and other stress factors;
  • epigenetic effects of chronic irradiation to plants;
  • transposable elements activity evaluation in response to ionizing irradiation.

Dr. Gustavo Turqueto Duarte
Prof. Dr. Stanislav A Geras'kin
Dr. Polina Yu. Volkova
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ionizing radiation
  • chronic irradiation
  • radiobiological effects
  • abiotic stress response
  • DNA repair
  • redox balance
  • membranes
  • phytohormones
  • transposable elements
  • methylation, epigenetics
  • transcriptomics
  • metabolomics
  • plant reproduction

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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0 pages, 3362 KiB  
Article
Arabidopsis thaliana Accessions from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Show Decreased Sensitivity to Additional Acute Irradiation
by Mikhail Podlutskii, Darya Babina, Marina Podobed, Ekaterina Bondarenko, Sofia Bitarishvili, Yana Blinova, Ekaterina Shesterikova, Alexander Prazyan, Larisa Turchin, Dmitrii Garbaruk, Maxim Kudin, Gustavo T. Duarte and Polina Volkova
Plants 2022, 11(22), 3142; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11223142 - 17 Nov 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3717 | Correction
Abstract
Chronic ionising radiation exposure is a main consequence of radioactive pollution of the environment. The development of functional genomics approaches coupled with morphological and physiological studies allows new insights into plant adaptation to life under chronic irradiation. Using morphological, reproductive, physiological, and transcriptomic [...] Read more.
Chronic ionising radiation exposure is a main consequence of radioactive pollution of the environment. The development of functional genomics approaches coupled with morphological and physiological studies allows new insights into plant adaptation to life under chronic irradiation. Using morphological, reproductive, physiological, and transcriptomic experiments, we evaluated the way in which Arabidopsis thaliana natural accessions from the Chernobyl exclusion zone recover from chronic low-dose and acute high-dose γ-irradiation of seeds. Plants from radioactively contaminated areas were characterized by lower germination efficiency, suppressed growth, decreased chlorophyll fluorescence, and phytohormonal changes. The transcriptomes of plants chronically exposed to low-dose radiation indicated the repression of mobile genetic elements and deregulation of genes related to abiotic stress tolerance. Furthermore, these chronically irradiated natural accessions showed higher tolerance to acute 150 Gy γ-irradiation of seeds, according to transcriptome and phytohormonal profiles. Overall, the lower sensitivity of the accessions from radioactively contaminated areas to acute high-dose irradiation may come at the cost of their growth performance under normal conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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13 pages, 2359 KiB  
Article
Transposable Elements in the Revealing of Polymorphism-Based Differences in the Seeds of Flax Varieties Grown in Remediated Chernobyl Area
by Jana Žiarovská, Ivana Speváková, Lucia Klongová, Silvia Farkasová and Namik Rashydow
Plants 2022, 11(19), 2567; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192567 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1454
Abstract
The nuclear reactor accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, resulted in effects both locally and farther away. Most of the contaminated areas were the agricultural fields and forests. Experimental fields were established near Chernobyl—radioactively contaminated fields localized 5 km from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as [...] Read more.
The nuclear reactor accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, resulted in effects both locally and farther away. Most of the contaminated areas were the agricultural fields and forests. Experimental fields were established near Chernobyl—radioactively contaminated fields localized 5 km from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as well as the remediated soil that is localized directly in the Chernobyl town. Two flax varieties growing under chronic exposition to ionizing radiation were used for this study—the local Ukrainian variety Kyivskyi and a commercial variety Bethune. The screening of the length polymorphism generated by transposable elements insertions were performed. All known types of common flax transposon, retrotransposons and iPBS approach were used. In the iPBS multiplex analyze, for the Kyivskyi variety, a unique addition was found in the seeds from the radioactive contaminated field and for the Bethune variety, a total of five amplicon additions were obtained and one deletion. For the TRIM Cassandra fingerprints, two amplicon additions were generated in the seeds from radioactive contaminated fields for the Bethune variety. In summary, the obtained data represent the genetic diversity between control and irradiated subgroups of flax seeds from Chernobyl area and the presence of activated transposable elements due to the irradiation stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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15 pages, 5297 KiB  
Article
Seedling Biometry of nud Knockout and win1 Knockout Barley Lines under Ionizing Radiation
by Elena V. Antonova, Nadezhda S. Shimalina, Anna M. Korotkova, Ekaterina V. Kolosovskaya, Sophia V. Gerasimova and Elena K. Khlestkina
Plants 2022, 11(19), 2474; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192474 - 22 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1741
Abstract
The genes NUD and WIN1 play a regulatory role in cuticle organization in barley. A knockout (KO) of each gene may alter plant mechanisms of adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. A putative pleiotropic effect of NUD or WIN1 gene mutations in barley can [...] Read more.
The genes NUD and WIN1 play a regulatory role in cuticle organization in barley. A knockout (KO) of each gene may alter plant mechanisms of adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. A putative pleiotropic effect of NUD or WIN1 gene mutations in barley can be assessed in a series of experiments in the presence or absence of a provoking factor. Ionizing radiation is widely used in research as a provoking factor for quantifying adaptive potential of living organisms. Our aim was to evaluate initial stages of growth and development of barley lines with a KO of NUD or WIN1 under radiation stress. Air-dried barley grains with different KOs and wild-type control (WT) were exposed to γ-radiation at 50, 100, or 200 Gy at a dose rate of 0.74 R/min. Approximately 30 physiological parameters were evaluated, combined into groups: (1) viability, (2) radiosensitivity, and (3) mutability of barley seed progeny. Seed germination, seedling survival, and shoot length were similar among all barley lines. Naked nud KO lines showed lower weights of seeds, roots, and seedlings and shorter root length as compared to win1 KO lines. The shoot-to-root length ratio of nud KO lines’ seedlings exceeded that of win1 KO and WT lines. In terms of the number of seedlings with leaves, all the KO lines were more sensitive to pre-sowing γ-irradiation. Meanwhile, the radioresistance of nud KO lines (50% growth reduction dose [RD50] = 318–356 Gy) and WT plants (RD50 = 414 Gy) judging by seedling weight was higher than that of win1 KO lines (RD50 = 201–300 Gy). Resistance of nud KO lines to radiation was also demonstrated by means of root length (RD50 = 202–254 Gy) and the shoot-to-root length ratio. WT seedlings had the fewest morphological anomalies. In nud KO lines, mainly alterations of root shape were found, whereas in win1 KO lines, changes in the color and shape of leaves were noted. Thus, seedlings of nud KO lines are characterized mainly by changes in the root system (root length, root number, and root anomalies). For win1 KO lines, other parameters are sensitive (shoot length and alterations of leaf shape and color). These data may indicate a pleiotropic effect of genes NUD and WIN1 in barley. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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17 pages, 3965 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Carbon- and Titanium-Ions Irradiation on Morpho-Anatomical and Biochemical Traits of Dolichos melanophthalmus DC. Seedlings Aimed to Space Exploration
by Veronica De Micco, Sara De Francesco, Chiara Amitrano and Carmen Arena
Plants 2021, 10(11), 2272; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10112272 - 23 Oct 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
The realization of manned missions for space exploration requires the development of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSSs) to make human colonies self-sufficient in terms of resources. Indeed, in these systems, plants contribute to resource regeneration and food production. However, the cultivation of plants [...] Read more.
The realization of manned missions for space exploration requires the development of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSSs) to make human colonies self-sufficient in terms of resources. Indeed, in these systems, plants contribute to resource regeneration and food production. However, the cultivation of plants in space is influenced by ionizing radiation which can have positive, null, or negative effects on plant growth depending on intrinsic and environmental/cultivation factors. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of high-LET (Linear Energy Transfer) ionizing radiation on seed germination and seedling development in eye bean. Dry seeds of Dolichos melanophthalmus DC. (eye bean) were irradiated with two doses (1 and 10 Gy) of C- and Ti-ions. Seedlings from irradiated seeds were compared with non-irradiated controls in terms of morpho-anatomical and biochemical traits. Results showed that the responses of eye bean plants to radiation are dose-specific and dependent on the type of ion. The information obtained from this study will be useful for evaluating the radio-resistance of eye bean seedlings, for their possible cultivation and utilization as food supplement in space environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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Review

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27 pages, 5762 KiB  
Review
Chronic Ionizing Radiation of Plants: An Evolutionary Factor from Direct Damage to Non-Target Effects
by Gustavo Turqueto Duarte, Polina Yu. Volkova, Fabricio Fiengo Perez and Nele Horemans
Plants 2023, 12(5), 1178; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12051178 - 4 Mar 2023
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4804
Abstract
In present times, the levels of ionizing radiation (IR) on the surface of Earth are relatively low, posing no high challenges for the survival of contemporary life forms. IR derives from natural sources and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), the nuclear industry, medical [...] Read more.
In present times, the levels of ionizing radiation (IR) on the surface of Earth are relatively low, posing no high challenges for the survival of contemporary life forms. IR derives from natural sources and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), the nuclear industry, medical applications, and as a result of radiation disasters or nuclear tests. In the current review, we discuss modern sources of radioactivity, its direct and indirect effects on different plant species, and the scope of the radiation protection of plants. We present an overview of the molecular mechanisms of radiation responses in plants, which leads to a tempting conjecture of the evolutionary role of IR as a limiting factor for land colonization and plant diversification rates. The hypothesis-driven analysis of available plant genomic data suggests an overall DNA repair gene families’ depletion in land plants compared to ancestral groups, which overlaps with a decrease in levels of radiation exposure on the surface of Earth millions of years ago. The potential contribution of chronic IR as an evolutionary factor in combination with other environmental factors is discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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10 pages, 969 KiB  
Review
Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Flora Ten Years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Disaster
by Gian Marco Ludovici, Andrea Chierici, Susana Oliveira de Souza, Francesco d’Errico, Alba Iannotti and Andrea Malizia
Plants 2022, 11(2), 222; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11020222 - 15 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 9035
Abstract
The aim of this work is to analyze the effects of ionizing radiation and radionuclides (like 137Cs) in several higher plants located around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), evaluating both their adaptive processes and evolution. After the FNPP accident in [...] Read more.
The aim of this work is to analyze the effects of ionizing radiation and radionuclides (like 137Cs) in several higher plants located around the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), evaluating both their adaptive processes and evolution. After the FNPP accident in March 2011 much attention was focused to the biological consequences of ionizing radiation and radionuclides released in the area surrounding the nuclear plant. This unexpected mishap led to the emission of radionuclides in aerosol and gaseous forms from the power plant, which contaminated a large area, including wild forest, cities, farmlands, mountains, and the sea, causing serious problems. Large quantities of 131I, 137Cs, and 134Cs were detected in the fallout. People were evacuated but the flora continued to be affected by the radiation exposure and by the radioactive dusts’ fallout. The response of biota to FNPP irradiation was a complex interaction among radiation dose, dose rate, temporal and spatial variation, varying radiation sensitivities of the different plants’ species, and indirect effects from other events. The repeated ionizing radiations, acute or chronic, guarantee an adaptation of the plant species, demonstrating a radio-resistance. Consequently, ionizing radiation affects the genetic structure, especially during chronic irradiation, reducing genetic variability. This reduction is associated with the different susceptibility of plant species to chronic stress. This would confirm the adaptive theory associated with this phenomenon. The effects that ionizing radiation has on different life forms are examined in this review using the FNPP disaster as a case study focusing the attention ten years after the accident. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Chronic Irradiation in Plants)
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