Salt-induced abnormalities on root tip mitotic cells of Allium cepa: prevention by inositol pretreatment

Salt-induced growth reduction of plants is a well-known phenomenon which poses major problem in crop productivity in places where vast majority of land plants are affected by salt. In this report, studies were carried out to reveal the effect of salt injury on the cell division pattern in roots and the role of myo-inositol in preventing the salt-induced ion disequilibrium on the chromosome and DNA degradation in roots. Present study revealed induction of various chromosomal abnormalities on the root tip mitotic cells of Allium cepa by treatment with different concentrations of NaCl (0–500 mM) for 24 h as also the amelioration of such effect by prior treatment of the roots with different concentration of myo-inositol (0–300 mM). Results showed that a narrow albeit definite range of extracellular myo-inositol (100–150 mM) is effective in preventing internucleosomal fragmentation which is the early response in roots under salt stress. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing Oryza (OsINO1) as well as Porteresia (PcINO1) cytosolic l-myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase coding genes can withstand and retain their chromosomal and DNA integrity in 100 mM NaCl solution and can subsequently prevent DNA fragmentation, caused by intracellular endonuclease activity at this salt concentration.