ABSTRACT

The response of plant to ionizing radiation depends on radiation quality and quantity and/or plant characteristics. X-ray irradiation can have positive, null, or negative effects on plant depending on the properties of the radiation and the features of the plant material. This project examines the effects of x-ray radiation on garden eggplants Solanum melongena L. over a range of energy level to determine effects of radiation on the anatomy of garden eggplant; leafs, stems and roots at different exposures in mille gray (5. 10. 15 and 20 Mgy). Sections of fresh and matured leaves. stems and roots of the varieties of Solanum melongena L. plants were achieved using sharp razor blades. The epidermal peels obtained were stained with safranin, excess stain was removed with filter paper. The sections were dehydrated mounted in glycerol and then the images were captured at 40. 100 and 400 magnification. The x-ray irradiation doses of 15-20 Mgy had significant effect on the plant anatomy of Solanum melongena but less anatomical changes were observed in plants exposed to dosage of 5-10 Mgy. It could be deduced that x-ray irradiation affected the anatomy of Solanum melongena by causing structural and functional change in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules, which have roles in the cellular and systemic levels and influence on anatomical characteristic of Solanum melongena L. at higher doses than lower doses, this implies that higher dose had effect on eggplant leaf, stem and root morphological characteristics on the selected parts, while control and dose 5 there was no significance differences observed. X-ray irradiation affect plants by causing structural and function changes in DNA molecule, which have roles in cellular and systemic levels. This observation will be useful to contribute further to the anatomical changes caused by exposure ofSolanum melongena L. seeds on x-ray irradiation.