Morphological, Biochemical and Genetic Variation of Zamioculcas zamiifolia in Response to Gamma Irradiation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/jntas.2026.14.01.07Keywords:
Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Gamma irradiation, phytohormones, Carbohydrates, Antioxidant enzymes, Superoxide dismutase, Catalase and PeroxidaseAbstract
This study evaluated the effects of gamma irradiation doses (0, 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5 and 20 Gy) on the survival, morphological, anatomical, biochemical and genetic characteristics of Zamioculcas zamiifolia over the two successive seasons (2023 and 2024). It was observed form the obtained results that most of the irradiated doses 5-20 Gy led to a high percentage of germination loss leaflets exposed to these previous doses failed to initiate rhizogenesis and showed complete mortality, except the low doses (1 and 2.5 Gy) whereas non-irradiated (control) exhibited 100% survival. Lower doses (1 and 2.5 Gy) influenced on growth parameters variably. Although plant height, leaflet area, and rhizome number were generally reduced compared with the control, 1 Gy enhanced leaves and root numbers enhanced chlorophyll and carotenoid content , while 2.5 Gy increased leaflet number, rhizome size, root length, and biomass accumulation. These findings indicate that high gamma doses are lethal at the initiation, whereas low doses may stimulate specific growth traits in a dose-dependent manner. From another point,the obtained results demonstrated a clear radiation hormesis effect,gamma irradiation induced a significant progressive accumulation of total phenolic compounds and total carbohyrates. Most notably, asimultaneous upregulates of both gibberellic acid(GA3)and abscisic acid (ABA) was observed with increasing doses. At 2.5Gy,total phenolic compounds reached 36.21 and 37.86 mg/g while total carbohydrates peaked at 69.29 and 70.55 mg/g in the first and the second season,respectively.GA3and ABA surged significantly, showing a balanced synergetic co-existence rather than conventional hormonal antagonism. These findings suggest that sub-lethal gamma irradiation doses functions as a metabolic stress, triggering protective antioxidant pathways and osmoregulatory mechanisms while successfully preserving photosynthetic efficiency and growth plasticty in Zamioculcas zamiifolia .Transverse sections of Zamia leaflets exhibited distinct anatomical differences across the various irradiation treatments. From another point ISSR marker detected limited genetic variation between control and gamma-irradiated Zamia plants, generating 32 bands with 12.5% polymorphism, indicating that gamma irradiation induced measurable DNA changes and potential breeding variability.
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