Cytogenetic effects of Anilofos which was widely used in agriculture, was evaluated in Allium cepa root meristematic cells. In the Allium root growth inhibition test EC₅₀ value was determined 50 ppm and 1/2× EC₅₀ (25 ppm), EC₅₀ (50 ppm) and 2 × EC₅₀ (100 ppm) concentrations of Anilofos were applied to onion roots. A negative and positive control were used in the experiment in parallel. According to results mitotic index decreased with increasing the Anilofos concentrations in all application groups and each exposure time, while disturbed anaphase–telophase, choromosome laggard(s), stickiness and anaphase bridge(s) were observed. In anaphase–telophase cells, c-metaphase, disturbed nucleus and binuclear cells were observed in other anomalies. The results were also analyzed statistically by using Dunnett t test (2-tailed) and all concentrations of Anilofos were found significant.

Flubendiamide (FLB) is an insecticide that is commonly employed to control pests on a variety of vegetables and fruits, with low toxicity for non-target organisms. However, due to its widespread use, the environmental risks and food safety have become major concerns. In this study, the toxicity potential of FLB was studied in the model organisms, Allium cepa and Drosophila melanogaster. The cyto-genotoxic effects of FLB on the root growth, mitotic index (MI), chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in A. cepa root meristematic cells were investigated using the root growth inhibition Allium test and Comet assays. FLB caused CAs in the form of disturbed ana-telophase, chromosome laggards, stickiness, anaphase-bridge and polyploidy depending on the concentration and the exposure time. The toxicity and genotoxicity of FLB at various doses (0.001, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mM) on D. melanogaster were investigated from the point of view of larval weight and movement, pupal formation success, pupal position, emergence success and DNA damage, respectively. FLB exposure led to a significant reduction of the locomotor activity at the highest concentration. While DNA damage increased significantly in the FLB-treated onions depending on the concentration and time, DNA damage in the FLB-treated D. melanogaster significantly increased only at the highest dose compared to that which occurred in the control group. Moreover, to provide a mechanistic insight into the genotoxic and locomotion-disrupting effects of FLB, molecular docking simulations of this pesticide were performed against the DNA and diamondback moth (DBM) ryanodine receptor (RyR) Repeat34 domain. The docking studies revealed that FLB binds strongly to a DNA region that is rich in cytosine-guanine-adenine bases (C-G-A) in the minor groove, and it displayed a remarkable binding affinity against the DBM RyR Repeat34 domain.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential cytotoxic effects of Benodanil fungicide by employing both mitotic index (MI) and mitotic phases on the root meristem cells of Allium cepa and genotoxic effects by using in vitro micronucleus assay (MN) in human peripheral blood lymphocyte. In the Allium root growth inhibition test, the EC₅₀ value was first determined as 25 ppm. Then, 2 × EC₅₀ value (50 ppm), EC₅₀ value (25 ppm), and 1/2 × EC₅₀ value (12.5 ppm) were tested with different treatment periods (24, 48, and 72 h). Both negative and positive controls were also used in parallel experiments. We obtained that mitotic index and prophase index decreased when compared with the control in all concentrations. In the micronucleus assay, lymphocytes were treated with various concentrations (250, 500, 750, and 1000 µg/ml) of Benodanil for 24 and 48 h. The results showed that Benodanil did not induce MN frequency in all concentrations of both treatment periods. Additionally, it was determined that this pesticide decreased nuclear division index (NDI) significantly. It was concluded that Benodanil has a cytotoxic effects depending on decreasing of MI and NDI.

Chloroform and Bromoform are two abundant trihalomethanes found in Algerian drinking water. The investigation of the mutagenic hazard of these disinfection by-products was studied by Ames test as prokaryotic bioassay to show their mutagenic effects. For this, Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains were employed. Both chloroform and bromoform showed a direct mutagenic effect since the number of revertant colonies gradually increase in dose-dependent manner with all concentrations tested with the two bacterial strains and these were both in the absence and presence of S9 metabolic activation. The genotoxic hazard was also studied by random amplified polymorphic DNA test on the root cells of Allium cepa as eukaryotic bioassay. DNA extracted from the roots of the onion were incubated at different concentrations of chloroform and bromoform and then amplified by polymerase chain reaction. This was based on demonstrating a major effect of disappearance of bands compared to roots incubated in the negative control (distilled water). The results showed that these two compounds affected genomic DNA by breaks although by mutations.

The present study evaluates the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of pyracarbolid using both micronuleus (MN) assay, in human lymphocytes, and Allium cepa assay, in the root meristem cells. In Allium test, EC₅₀ value was determined in order to selecting the test concentrations for the assay and the root tips were treated with 25 ppm (EC₅₀/2), 50 ppm (EC₅₀) and 100 ppm (EC₅₀ × 2) concentrations of pyracarbolid. One percent of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) and methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. In the micronucleus assay, the cultures were treated with four concentrations (250, 500, 750 and 1000 µg/ml) of pyracarbolid for 24 and 48 h, negative and positive controls were also used in the experiment parallely. The results showed that mitotic index (MI) significantly reduced with increasing the pyracarbolid concentration at each exposure time. It was also obtained that prophase and metaphase index decreased significantly in all concentration at each exposure time. Anaphase index decreased as well and results were found to be statistically significant, except 24 h. A significant increase was observed in MN frequency in all concentrations and both treatment periods when compared with the controls. Pyracarbolid also caused a significant reduction in the cytokinesis block proliferation index (CBPI) in all concentration and both exposure time.

In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were synthesized by green synthesis technique using the extract obtained from Sideritis akmanii plant and the obtained ZnONPs were characterized by Ultraviolet–Visible Spectrophotometry (UV–VIS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) spectrophotometer, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. Cytotoxic effects of both ZnONPs and Sideritis akmanii plant extract on A549 cells were investigated by MMT assay and genotoxic effects by Comet assay method. It was observed that the cytotoxic activity of ZnONP doses was higher than Sideritis akmanii plant extracts. In the comet test, the highest DNA damage (62.25 ± 10.15) was observed in the 10 mg/mL ZnONP application at 48 h of application, DNA damage did not exceed the negative control group at 3 different plant extract doses. Moreover, the genotoxic effects of 4 different concentrations of ZnONPs (0.1, 1, 5, 10 mM) were evaluated on Drosophila melonagaster with the SMART test. The results obtained as a result of ZnONP application were found to be close to the control group and it was determined that no statistically significant genotoxic effect was observed. The antimicrobial activity of ZnONPs on Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Salmonella enteritidis (ATCC 13076), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 700603) and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) microorganisms was analyzed using disk diffusion method. According to the antimicrobial and antifungal activity data, it was determined that the synthesized ZnONPs were effective on all microorganism strains used in the study and the inhibition zone diameters ranged from 8 to 13.67 mm.