[Cytogenetic analysis of first two mitoses in the root meristem of stored for a prolonged time period Crepis tectorum seeds subjected to chronic irradiation in the 30-kilometer zone of the accident at the Chernobyl Atomic Power Plant].

Seeds of Crepis tectorum natural populations 1 and 3 subjected to chronic irradiation in 1986 during 4 months in 30-kilometers zone of Chernobyl were stored for 6 years in a laboratory. In 1993 a method of continuous germination of seeds in 0.01% colchicin solution was used and an analysis of chromosome aberrations in the first tetraploid cells was made as it was done in 1987 just after finishing of a dormant period of seeds. By extrapolation from the data obtained by studying cells of the second colchicine mitosis to the cells of the previous mitosis from which they derived it was shown that the frequency of chromatid type aberrations in the early dividing cells after 6 year storage remained at the level which was observed just after finishing of a dormant period. This fact supports our previous proposition that chromatid aberrations observed in early dividing cells were probably induced by the incorporated long term radioactive products during seed germination, but not during seed storage.