Static magnetic field induced epigenetic changes in wheat callus

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is always damaged by endogenous and exogenous factors. Magnetic field (MF) is one of these exogenous factors. When repair mechanisms are not sufficient, mainly because of imbalance in damage or mistakes in repair mechanisms, methylation of DNA results in polymorphism-related abnormalities. In this study, low intensity static magnetic field-induced DNA damage and methylation in wheat calli were investigated by using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA and Coupled Restriction Enzyme Digestion-Random Amplification techniques. Calli were derived from mature embryos of wheat. Both 7- and 14-day-old wheat calli were exposed to 7 mT (millitesla) static MF for 24, 48, 72, 96, or 120 h of incubation period. The highest change in polymorphism rate was obtained in calli exposed to 7 mT MF for 120 h in both 7- and 14-day-old calli. Increase in MF duration caused DNA hypermethylation in both 7- and 14-day-old calli. Polymorphism and DNA methylation ratio were higher in 7-day-old calli. The highest methylation level with a value of 25.1% was found in 7-day-old calli exposed to MF for 120 h. Results suggested that low intensity static magnetic field may trigger genomic instability and DNA methylation. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:504-511, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.