Investigation of cytogenetic effects of imazamox herbicide on Allium cepa L.

Imazamox, one of the imidazolinone herbicides, is an acetolactate synthase (ALS) / acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) inhibitor and is widely used in weed control. In this study, the morphological and cytogenotoxic potential of the commercial formulation of imazamox herbicide was investigated using the Allium cepa test method, which is used as one of the bioindicator methods in genotoxicity tests. Root tips were treated with imazamox herbicide at different concentrations (0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 ppm) for 96 hours. Morphological parameters such as root length, root tip number and weight and cytogenotoxic effects such as chromosomal abnormalities and mitotic index of imazamox herbicide on Allium cepa root tip cells were determined. It was detected that 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 ppm concentrations of imazamox herbicide caused statistically significant inhibition on root lengths, and a decrease in root number as the concentration increased. It was observed that all concentrations of imazamox herbicide significantly increased the total number of abnormal cells, the most common abnormality among these mitotic abnormalities was irregular metaphase, and there were also abnormalities such as adhesion, c-mitosis, bridge and vagragant chromosomes. In addition, it was found that after 96 hours of treatment with A. cepa root tip cells of imazamox herbicide, there was a decrease in the percentage of mitotic index at all concentrations, and these reductions at 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 ppm concentrations were statistically significant. As a result, it was determined that high concentrations (50 and 100 ppm) of imazamox herbicide had potential genotoxic and cytotoxic effects on A. cepa root tip cells. Studies using more advanced techniques and methods are needed to reveal the mechanisms of their toxicity in non-target organisms.