The soil surface is a major natural system that accumulates pollutants and allows researchers to disclose the history and the present state of contamination of an area with toxic pollutants. This conclusion is based on the comparison of genotoxicity of aqueous extracts and DMSO extracts of topsoil from military territories in various locations left behind after the retreat of the Soviet Army from Lithuania, and several sites in the city of Vilnius, characterized by different history and current traffic intensity. The specific character of the soil-surface contamination was shown in a series of Tradescantia micronucleus (Trad-MN) and stamen-hair mutation (Trad-SHM) bioassays and tests. The most effective ones were the Trad-MN and, unexpectedly, the branched-hair tests. A preliminary result of the study is the somaclonal variation of individual Tradescantia plants revealed by the RAPD method of DNA analysis. A comparison of aqueous extracts and DMSO extracts of the soil showed the permanent character of the mobile forms of genotoxic pollutants in the soil surface, despite the fact that several military territories were already closed 20 years ago.
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