Assessment of the mutagenic potential of the water of an urban river by means of two Tradescantia-based test systems

[Display omitted] •Genotoxic potential of riverine water was assessed by two Tradescantia based tests.•Frequency of somatic mutations in the stamen hair was elevated.•Formation of micronuclei in the pollen microspores was enhanced.•Tradescantia test systems may be too sensitive to be used in the risk assessment.•Comparison with the results of other test systems is recommended. River pollution can be caused by anthropogenic or natural factors. When testing water quality for the presence of toxic substances, higher plants as bioindicators for the genotoxic effects of complex mixtures are effective and appropriate. Hence, in this work the Tradescantia (clone 02) stamen hair mutations (Trad-SHM) and Tradescantia micronuclei (Trad-MCN) were used to determine mutagenic and clastogenic potential of an urban river. A significant increase in the level of all studied endpoints as well as morphological changes, including pink cells (PC) and colorless cells (CC) in stamen hairs, stunted hairs (SH), tetrads with micronuclei (MN) and MN in tetrads of pollen microspores in the Tradescantia was observed compared to the negative control (tap water). As an example riverine system, part of the River Hrazdan (Armenia) flowing through a highly urbanized and industrial area was studied. The positive control (10 mM CrO3) showed the highest genotoxicity for the SHM assay (PC: 5.1 / 1000, CC: 17.9 / 1000) and for the MCN assay (12 MN / 100 tetrads and 9.4 ± 0.53 tetrads with MN). Genetic responses were analyzed in conjunction with the concentrations of select elements in the riverine water. Reasons for observing such a high level of genetic markers in the riverine water and applicability of the Tradescantia (clone 02) test-systems in environmental risk assessment and biomonitoring are discussed.