Biomonitoring of Genotoxic Effect of Glyphosate and Pendimethalin in Vigna mungo Populations

Genotoxicological biomonitoring of Vigna mango populations in the Banda district in Uttar Pradesh, sprayed with the herbicides glyphosate and pendimethalin, was done by studying their meiotic behavior and morphological characters and comparing them with untreated populations. The herbicides caused a change in the frequency of different meiotic phases at a given time, and also induced various anomalies. Disturbed polarity, spindle disturbance, bridges, and laggards were common in both the populations. Micronuclei were found in a large number of cells. Pollen fertility was less in the glyphosate-treated group as compared to the pendimethalin-treated and control groups. A comparative account of the correlation between percentage anomaly and pollen fertility as indicators of genotoxicity of the two herbicides has been described in this paper.