Vicia–Micronucleus Test Application for Saline Irrigation Water Risk Assessment

In view of climate change, increasing soil salinity is expected worldwide. It is therefore important to improve prediction ability of plant salinity effects. For this purpose, brackish/saline irrigation water from two areas in central and coastal Tunisia was sampled. The water samples were classified as C3 (EC: 2.01–2.24 dS m(−1)) and C4 (EC: 3.46–7.00 dS m(−1)), indicating that the water was questionable and not suitable for irrigation, respectively. The water samples were tested for their genotoxic potential and growth effects on Vicia faba seedlings. Results showed a decrease in mitotic index (MI) and, consequently, growth parameters concomitant to the appearance of micronucleus (MCN) and chromosome aberrations when the water salinity increased. Salt ion concentration had striking influence on genome stability and growth parameters. Pearson correlation underlined the negative connection between most ions in the water inappropriate for irrigation (C4) and MI as well as growth parameters. MI was strongly influenced by Mg(2+), Na(+), Cl(−), and to a less degree Ca(2+), K(+), and SO(4)(2−). Growth parameters were moderately to weakly affected by K(+) and Ca(2+), respectively. Re-garding MCN, a very strong positive correlation was found for MCN and K(+). Despite its short-term application, the Vicia-MCN Test showed a real ability to predict toxicity induced by salt ions confirming that is has a relevant role in hazard identification and risk assessment of salinity effects.