Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Melanin from the fungus Gliocephalotrichum simplex protects seeds from the effects of exposure to gamma radiation
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Melanin from the fungus Gliocephalotrichum simplex protects seeds from the effects of exposure to gamma radiation
Do you wish to request the book?
Melanin from the fungus Gliocephalotrichum simplex protects seeds from the effects of exposure to gamma radiation
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Melanin from the fungus Gliocephalotrichum simplex protects seeds from the effects of exposure to gamma radiation
2025
Overview
Protection of seeds from ionizing radiation is an important future need in space travel. We examined the usefulness of eumelanin from the fungus
Gliocephalotrichum
MTCC 5489 for this purpose. Seeds of
Oryza sativa
,
Brassica nigra
,
Vigna radiata
and
V. aconitifolia
were enclosed in Petri dishes coated with paint containing various concentrations of nanomelanin and exposed to doses of 0.1 to 2.0 kGy Cs-137 or 0.1 to 0.5 kGy Co-60 radiation. While Cs-137 radiation severely affected the rate of germination (germination index, GI) and germination percentage of
Oryza sativa
, whereas other seeds were less affected, Co-60 markedly diminished the GI of all the seeds. Increasing concentrations of melanin coating afforded significant protection to the GI of
O. sativa
seeds exposed to Cs-137 and to all seeds exposed to Co-60 radiation. The germination percentage of seeds was dose- and radiation dependent, with no effect observed for all doses of Cs-137 or 0.1 kGy Co-60 radiation, whereas 0.5 kGy Co-60 radiation killed 50 to 60% of the unprotected seeds. Melanin paint offered nearly 100% survival. This study demonstrated that melanin-containing materials can provide effective shielding from gamma radiation for diverse types of seeds that are important for human consumption, which has implications for space agriculture and agriculture in extreme environments.
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
