Physiological Responses of Plants to Ionizing Radiation

The discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895, natural radioactivity by Becquerel in 1896, induced radioactivity in 1934 and more recently the availability of man-made radiation sources like nuclear reactors, cyclotrons, etc have all contributed to and stimulated the researches on the biological effects of ionizing radiations. Nevertheless, prior to these discoveries, the naturally occuring ionizing radiations must have been producing their effects since time immemorial. tnspite of the growing interest in plant science, specially in the application of ionizing radiation for improving crop plants, it has been overwhelmingly and expectedly (because of risks involved) limited to the genetic aspects. While presenting the work done at BARC, I would cover only non-genetic effects and would include basic as well as applied studies on radiation and productivity.