title: Cell-programmed death induced by walnut husk washing waters in three horticultural crops.
abstract: Walnut husk washing waters (WHWW), a by-product of walnut production, are indiscriminately used for irrigation without preliminary risk assessment. Basing on previous in vitro results on the toxicity of this by-product, we have followed the morphophysiological development of Zea mays, Lactuca sativa cv. Gentilina and L. sativa cv. Canasta under diluted and undiluted WHWW irrigation. Significant development alterations have been observed in root and shoot elongations for all crops as well as in total biomass and chlorophyll content. The genotoxic potential of WHWW has been concurrently verified; acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining evidenced chromatin modifications and DNA degradation and also was confirmed by DNA laddering. The DNA instability was also assessed through RAPD, thus suggesting the danger of the by-product of walnut processing and focusing the attention on the necessity of an efficient treatment of WHWWs. The findings obtained by PCA of agronomic and physiological traits suggested that establishing guidelines for the administration of WHWW for irrigation is of great importance, and it is necessary to supervise their use in agricultural soils.
authors.affiliation: Fruit Trees Research Unit, Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Via Torrino 3, 81100, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petriccione
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ciniglia
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D019649:Food Industry; D007220:Industrial Waste; D031324:Juglans; D018545:Lactuca / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009153:Mutagens; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical