Cytological Effects of Pesticides

Abstract

The effects of the insecticide o.o-dimethyl-N-methyl-carbamido methyl dithiophosphate “Rogor” were studied on root-mitosis of Vicia faba and Gossypium barbadense. Two types of treatments were conducted: seed-soak, and root-treat. ments. Both pure and formulated “Rogor” effected a great decrease in the mitotic index of Vicia faba when compared with the control. The percentage of abnormal mitoses in beans induced by formulated “Rogor” was much higher than that induced by the pure substance. Recovery experiments showed that roots treated with pure “Rogor” recovered more rapidly than those treated with the formulated substance. Disturbed prophases, meta and anaphases comprise the most dominant type of anomalies in both beans and cotton, lagging chromosomes were also observed in both plants. Chromosome contraction was observed only in cotton. Chromosome stickiness, chromosome fragmentation, anaphase bridges, and multipolar anaphases were observed only in Vicia faba.