jesc.ac.cn Journal of Environmental Sciences 2011, 23(7) 1171–1178 Assessment of air pollution genotoxicity by RAPD in Evernia prunastri L. Ach. from around iron-steel factory in Karab ¨ uk, Turkey Demet Cansaran-Duman 1 , Orhan Atakol 2 ,S¨ umer Aras 3, * 1. Refik Saydam National Public Health Agency, Drug and Cosmetics Research Department Laboratories, Sıhhıye, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: dcansaran@yahoo.com 2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Ankara, Tandogan, Ankara, Turkey 3. Biotechnology Section, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Ankara, Tandogan, Ankara, Turkey Received 14 June 2010; revised 16 August 2010; accepted 12 October 2010 Abstract Lichens are widely used in biomonitoring studies of air pollution, either as bioindicators of air quality or as bioaccumulators of atmospheric deposition. Over the past decade, several molecular techniques have been developed to provide information on diversity, genotoxicology, genetic relationships, etc. The heavy metal contents of Evernia prunastri samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) method was used to describe the pattern of DNA band variation in the samples influenced by the environmental pollution. The study was designed to describe the level of pollution in an area contaminated with smoke and waste from an iron-steel factory, and to reveal the level of potential genotoxic agents around this source of pollution. The study also examined the suitability of the lichen samples for the detection of genotoxicity. Key words: air pollution; Evernia prunastri; RAPD; genotoxicity DOI: 10.1016/S1001-0742(10)60505-0 Citation: Cansaran-Duman D, Atakol O, Aras S, 2011. Assessment of the air pollution genotoxicity by RAPD in Evernia prunastri L. Ach. from around an iron-steel factory in Karab ¨ uk, Turkey. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(7): 1171–1178 Introduction Lichens and mosses are widely used for the biomoni- toring of air quality, either as bioindicators of air quality or as bioaccumulators of atmospheric deposition (Conti and Cecchetti, 2001; Wolterbeek, 2002; Sczepaniak and Biziuk, 2003). These organisms are widely used because of their low cost and easily sampling, and because they allow wide areas to be monitored. Lichens are effec- tive bioaccumulators of trace elements, and are bound to negatively charged anionic sites on the cell wall and outer surface of the plasma membrane, accumulated at intracellular sites and trapped as particles on the surface (Bargagli, 1998). Due to their resistance to environmental stress and effective accumulation capacity, toxitolerant species have been widely used for more than 30 years to assess the atmospheric deposition of trace elements and radionuclides in polluted areas (Garty and Ammann, 1987; Bennett et al., 1996; Bargagli, 1998; Nimis and Bargagli, 1999; Carreras and Pignata, 2002; Di Lella et al., 2003; Cansaran-Duman et al., 2009). Environmental pollution is a major concern for public health, and heavy metal accumulation is considered the * Corresponding author. E-mail: aras@science.ankara.edu.tr major component of environmental pollution. Heavy metal contamination of air and water bodies is one of the most important environmental problems in the world, and produces harmful consequences for agriculture and human health as well. Heavy metals can easily mobilise, disperse and to some extent produce toxic effects, which in turn can lead to growth inhibition and cause decline in crop yield. In cellular level, excessive amounts of toxic heavy metal ions induce several stress responses and damage to different cell components such as membranes, proteins and DNA (Jimi et al., 2004; Waisberg et al., 2003). Some genotoxic agents cannot only injure the integrity of the genome, but also directly or indirectly affect the expression of DNA. Thus, more attention should be given to investigate the genotoxic effects of the environmental pollutants. Several studies have used the comet assay, micronu- cleus assay or chromosome aberration assay to measure the genotoxic effect of metals on plants (Steinkellner et al., 1999; Angelis et al., 2000). The advantage of measuring the effects of genotoxic chemicals directly on DNA is related to sensitivity and short response time. Recent advances in molecular biology such as Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) have led to the development of a number of selective and sensitive assays