Abstract
This study investigated the potential genotoxic effects of the fungicide Tango® Super using methods of conventional cytogenetic analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and detection of DNA fragmentation in bovine lymphocytes. After exposure of two donor cell cultures to several concentrations of fungicide (0.5, 3.0 and 15.0 mg.ml-1 for conventional cytogenetic analysis; 0.5 and 3.0 mg.ml-1 for FISH) we detected the insignificant occurrence of chromosome and chromatid breakages. In both donors we observed a significant decrease in mitotic index (MI) percentage with increasing concentrations of fungicide (P < 0.01; P < 0.001), which indicated a cytotoxic effect of the preparation. Electrophoretic analysis of DNA fragmentation in lymphocytes exposed to increasing concentrations (0.5; 1.5; 3.0; 6.0 and 15.0 mg.ml-1) of this preparation showed its ability to induce formation of fragments, which is a characteristic manifestation of the last stage of apoptosis.