Application of a wheat seedling assay for detecting aneuploidy induced by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide.

N-Ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) were evaluated in the allohexapolyploid wheat seedling assay developed by Redei and Sandhu (1988), for its ability to induce aneuploidy and/or small chromosome deletions. The wheat strain used (Neatby's virescent) is homozygous for a pair of recessive alleles (v1) present on chromosome 3B and produces virescent seedlings grown at temperatures below 26 degrees C. When the developing embryos are treated with a test chemical, loss of chromosome 3B or its segment bearing the v1 allele in a progenitor cell produces a green sector in the leaf, whereas a gain of this chromosome induces a white sector. ENU and 4NQO induced dose-dependent increases in the frequency of leaf sectors at concentrations ranging from 0.128 to 1.280 mM and 0.052 to 0.263 mM, respectively. The assay is very simple and can be employed for evaluating the genetic potential of chemicals in a laboratory as well as for in situ hazards assessment under natural environmental conditions.