Gamma irradiation is an effective and widely used method in the agricultural sector to alter the traits of plants especially for commercialization purposes and as a mitigation measure to ensure food security in the future. Vigna radiata (mung bean) is one of the most important legume crops in Asian countries that is not fully exploited. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the effects of gamma irradiation on the cytology and growth of mung beans. The mung bean seeds were exposed to different doses of gamma radiation; 0, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 Gy. The increasing dose of gamma irradiation caused an insignificant decrease (p>0.05) in the mitotic index of V. radiata meristematic cells. However, a significant increase at p<0.05 in the percentage of clastogenic chromosomal aberration was observed in the meristematic cells of plants irradiated at 800 and 1000 Gy. The survival percentage, plant height, and root length were inversely proportional to the percentage of chromosomal aberration and clastogenic abnormalities when the irradiation dose exceeded the LD50 (752.50 Gy). In conclusion, gamma rays greatly induced clastogenic abnormalities which have varying impacts on the cytology and growth of V. radiata plants.

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that has affected around 50-70 million people worldwide. Various animal models have previously been used in epilepsy research. To expand the knowledge of the disease, a new animal model is suggested to be explored considering the genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity that contributes to the complexity of the disease. This study was undertaken to analyze 14 causative genes of epilepsy disease in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), humans, and the established model of this disease which is zebrafish (Danio rerio) by assessing the variation in the genes by using MEGA X and predicting the functional motif and secondary structure of the proteins by using PROSITE and GORIV respectively. Results from the variation analysis showed the lowest percentage of conserved genes in Japanese medaka was 60%.50% of the genes of Japanese medaka were found to be more conserved than zebrafish in comparison to a human. The functional motifs present in all genes in Japanese medaka showed the same motifs present in humans. All the secondary structures of Japanese medaka genes were predicted to contain the alpha helix, extended strand, and random coil. In conclusion, it can be inferred that Japanese medaka could be a reliable animal model for epilepsy disease.