| Abstract: | Seeds from tomato plants fumigated with hydrogen fluoride gas at a concentration of about 3 Mg/cu m were planted in pots in the greenhouse. A number of plants in each culture were found to be developing abnormally. These abnormalities consisted of one, three, or four cotyledons; deformed cotyledons; plumuless seedlings; fasciated petioles; wiry seedlings, double stalked plants; and dwarf seedlings. Such abnormal phenotypes were the same as, or similar to, known mutants. There was a trend toward a higher percentage of total phenotypic abnormalities with an increase in the treatment duration. Meiotic analyses of the Q. generation (offspring of the fumigated plants, Q) showed the occurrence of fragments or bridges plus fragments. There was also a trend toward a higher percentage of chromosomal aberrations with an increase in the treatment duration except for the 4 days duration which was higher than most of the other treatments. It is believed that the occurrence of these aberrations was due to crossing over in heterozygous paracentric inversions. These results suggest that HF is a mutagenic agent probably blocking directly or indirectly the replication of the DNA. |
