EMF radiations (1800 MHz)-inhibited early seedling growth of maize (Zea mays) involves alterations in starch and sucrose metabolism

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of 1800-MHz electromagnetic field radiations (EMF-r), widely used in mobile communication, on the growth and activity of starch-, sucrose-, and phosphate-hydrolyzing enzymes in Zea mays seedlings. We exposed Z. mays to modulated continuous wave homogenous EMF-r at specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.69±0.0 × 10−1 W kg−1 for ½, 1, 2, and 4 h. The analysis of seedlings after 7 days revealed that short-term exposure did not induce any significant change, while longer exposure of 4 h caused significant growth and biochemical alterations. There was a reduction in the root and coleoptile length with more pronounced effect on coleoptile growth (23 % reduction on 4-h exposure). The contents of photosynthetic pigments and total carbohydrates declined by 13 and 18 %, respectively, in 4-h exposure treatments compared to unexposed control. The activity of starch-hydrolyzing enzymes—α- and β-amylases—increased by ∼92 and 94 %, respectively, at an exposure duration of 4 h, over that in the control. In response to 4-h exposure treatment, the activity of sucrolytic enzymes—acid invertases and alkaline invertases—was increased by 88 and 266 %, whereas the specific activities of phosphohydrolytic enzymes (acid phosphatases and alkaline phosphatases) showed initial increase up to ≤2 h duration and then declined at >2 h exposure duration. The study concludes that EMF-r-inhibited seedling growth of Z. mays involves interference with starch and sucrose metabolism.