Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Radiosensitivity of plant seeds to neutrons and its modification

Book ·
OSTI ID:4338429

From symposium on the effects of neutron irradiation upon cell function; Neuherberg, Germany (22 Oct 1973). Rice seeds were treated with 1% diethyl sulphate. This treatment reduced seed germination and plant survival. The percentage of germination as well as the survival of plants increased when the seeds were irradiated with increasing doses of thermal neutrons before chemical treatment. When rice and barley seeds were irradiated with thermal neutrons the damage (germination; survival, and height of seedlings) was not influenced by storage; on the other hand, storage influenced mutations and the number of chromosomal fragments. When barley seeds were irradiated with fast neutrons, storage enhanced the damage, the frequency of chromosomal aberrations was not affected by storage. The D/sub 50/ values (seedlings high reduction) for fast neutrons for 12 crop plants varied from 0.66 krad to 6.13 krad, the RBE values decreased with the increase in D/sub 50/ for neutrons. (GE)

Research Organization:
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay
NSA Number:
NSA-29-027034
OSTI ID:
4338429
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English