Genotoxicity evaluation of environmental pollutants using analysis of nucleolar alterations

Nucleolar alterations resulting from the action of either chemical or physical agents can serve as important genotoxicity biomarkers. In this study, the efficiency of AgNOR banding technique to identify the presence of nucleoli in micronucleus and assess nucleolar alterations in aberrant cells of Allium cepa was evaluated. Seeds of this plant were exposed to both water samples from a river that receives untreated urban effluent and to the trifluralin herbicide (0.84 mg/L concentration), both analyzed in two different seasons (summer and winter seasons). Samples induced significant frequencies of chromosomal and nuclear aberrations and micronuclei, as observed in cells submitted to conventional chromosomal staining. The herbicide caused a significant increase in the number of nucleoli and micronuclei, interpreted as due to the elimination of excessive nucleolar material resulting from polyploidization. The use of the AgNOR technique enabled the identification of both the presence of the nucleolus in some micronuclei and the nucleolar organizer region (NOR) behavior of aberrant cells. The NOR-banding technique showed to be an efficient tool for studying the genotoxic effects caused by a xenobiotics and a complex environmental sample.