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      Water Quality of Urban Streams: The Allium cepa Seeds/Seedlings Test as a Tool for Surface Water Monitoring

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          Abstract

          The present study investigates the genotoxic, mutagenic, and cytotoxic potential of surface waters in urban streams using Allium cepa and analyzes the applicability of this assay for environmental monitoring. Water samples were collected from three streams located in the urban area of a municipality in the south of Brazil. For each stream, two samples were collected, one upstream and one downstream of the pollution discharge site. Physicochemical evaluation indicated that all samples had various degrees of environmental impact, but substantial impact was seen for the downstream samples of the Preto and Pedras streams. All samples increased the frequency of chromosome aberrations ( P < 0.05). The sample from Pedras downstream site also caused a decrease in mitotic index ( P < 0.08) and increase in micronuclei ( P < 0.08) frequency, indicating potential cytotoxicity and mutagenicity. The Pedras stream receives mixed industrial and urban wastewater, while the Lajeado and Preto streams receive wastewater predominantly domestic in nature, which may partially explain the difference in toxicity among the samples. Moreover, the Allium cepa seeds/seedlings were shown to be extremely sensitive in detecting the genotoxicity of environmental water samples and can be applied as the first tool for environmental health hazard identification and prediction.

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          Allium cepa test in environmental monitoring: a review on its application.

          Higher plants are recognized as excellent genetic models to detect environmental mutagens and are frequently used in monitoring studies. Among the plant species, Alium cepa has been used to evaluate DNA damages, such as chromosome aberrations and disturbances in the mitotic cycle. Employing the A. cepa as a test system to detect mutagens dates back to the 40s. It has been used to this day to assess a great number of chemical agents, which contributes to its increasing application in environmental monitoring. The A. cepa is characterized as a low cost test. It is easily handled and has advantages over other short-term tests that require previous preparations of tested samples, as well as the addition of exogenous metabolic system. Higher plants, even showing low concentrations of oxidase enzymes and a limitation in the substrate specification in relation to other organism groups, present consistent results that may serve as a warning to other biological systems, since the target is DNA, common to all organisms. The A. cepa test also enables the evaluation of different endpoints. Among the endpoints, chromosome aberrations have been the most used one to detect genotoxicity along the years. The mitotic index and some nuclear abnormalities are used to evaluate citotoxicity and analyze micronucleus to verify mutagenicity of different chemicals. Moreover, the A. cepa test system provides important information to evaluate action mechanisms of an agent about its effects on the genetic material (clastogenic and/or aneugenic effects). In the face of all the advantages that the A. cepa test system offers, it has been widely used to assess the impacts caused by xenobiotics, characterizing an important tool for environmental monitoring studies, where satisfactory results have been reported.
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            THE EFFECT OF COLCHICINE ON ROOT MITOSES IN ALLIUM

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              Nucleotide excision repair and human syndromes.

              DNA damage is implicated in cancer and aging, and several DNA repair mechanisms exist that safeguard the genome from these deleterious consequences. Nucleotide excision repair (NER) removes a wide diversity of lesions, the main of which include UV-induced lesions, bulky chemical adducts and some forms of oxidative damage. The NER process involves the action of at least 30 proteins in a 'cut-and-paste'-like mechanism. The consequences of a defect in one of the NER proteins are apparent from three rare recessive syndromes: xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), Cockayne syndrome (CS) and the photosensitive form of the brittle hair disorder trichothiodystrophy (TTD). Sun-sensitive skin is associated with skin cancer predisposition in the case of XP, but remarkably not in CS and TTD. Moreover, the spectrum of clinical symptoms differs considerably between the three syndromes. CS and TTD patients exhibit a spectrum of neurodevelopmental abnormalities and, in addition, TTD is associated with ichthyosis and brittle hair. These typical CS and TTD abnormalities are difficult to comprehend as a consequence of defective NER. This review briefly describes the biochemistry of the NER process, summarizes the clinical features of the NER disorders and speculates on the molecular basis underlying these pleitropic syndromes.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                ScientificWorldJournal
                ScientificWorldJournal
                TSWJ
                The Scientific World Journal
                Hindawi Publishing Corporation
                2356-6140
                1537-744X
                2014
                10 December 2014
                : 2014
                : 391367
                Affiliations
                1Department of Biology and Pharmacy, University of Santa Cruz do Sul, Avenue Independência 2293, 96815-900 Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil
                2Postgraduation Course of Health Promotion, Department of Biology and Pharmacy, University of Santa Cruz do Sul, Avenue Independência 2293, 96815-900 Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil
                3Laboratory of Biotechnology and Genetics, Department of Biology and Pharmacy, University of Santa Cruz do Sul, Avenue Independência 2293, 96815-900 Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil
                Author notes
                *Camila Gonçalves Athanásio: camilaathanasio@ 123456gmail.com

                Academic Editor: Sanjay P. Govindwar

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7523-7211
                Article
                10.1155/2014/391367
                4276675
                672a6529-5e22-45c6-8b68-676485c739a1
                Copyright © 2014 Camila Gonçalves Athanásio et al.

                This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 29 July 2014
                : 23 November 2014
                : 23 November 2014
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