Effect of Increased Ionizing Radiation and Near-Null Magnetic Field on Electrical Signals of Plants
摘要
There is currently a significant gap in understanding the effects of astro- and geophysical factors such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, including electromagnetic fields, on living organisms. The effects caused by these factors are important for planning scenarios in which significant changes in the intensity of such factors can be expected both on the Earth and during space missions. There is a reason to believe that, of all the indicators of the functioning of living organisms, the signaling systems responsible for the perception, processing, and amplification of the incoming stimulus are the most sensitive. In this work, we have studied the effect of increased levels of ionizing radiation (β radiation, dose rate of 31.3 μGy/h) and hypomagnetic conditions (induced magnetic field 0–1.5 μT) on electrical signals of plants caused by an additional stimulus. To conduct the experiments, a setup based on triaxial Helmholtz rings was created, which permits one to set and maintain altered conditions of the electromagnetic environment with high accuracy. The work showed that an increased level of ionizing radiation strengthens, while the near-null level of magnetic field weakens electrical signals in plants. It is assumed that the mechanism of action of such factors is their effect on a single component of stress signaling, namely, concentration of reactive oxygen species. The observed effects open up a new way for studying the mechanisms of the influence of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation on the state of living organisms.