Ivermectin’s influence on morpho-physiological parameters of Arabidopsis thaliana L. roots

Aim. To study ivermectin’s influence on morphology of roots and root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana L. seedlings. Methods. In vitro seedlings’ cultivation, microscopy, statistical data analysis. Results. Morphological changes of roots were determined after 12 days of seedlings growth on the nutrient medium (Murashige and Skoog) with ivermectin in concentration of 250 µg/ml. It was determined that ivermectin at the concentration of 250 µg/ml causes main roots curling, elongation zone shortening, lateral roots growth retardation, decrease in length and deformation of root hairs. Statistically significant differences in length of root hairs were observed on the 12th day of cultivation. Particularly, the mean length of root hairs was 163.63±57.97 µm in seedlings, which grew on medium without ivermectin, and 28.14±9.36 µm in seedlings, which grew on medium with 250 µg/ml of ivermectin. Conclusions. Morphological alterations of roots and root hairs сaused by 250 µg/ml of ivermectin were analyzed. According to the proposed explanation of the obtained results, ivermectin disrupts arrangements of microtubules in cells of A. thaliana main root leading to pathological changes in roots’ morphology.