Adaptation of the gymnosperms to the conditions of irradiation in the Chernobyl zone: from morphological abnormalities to the molecular genetic consequences

The most suitable plant indicator targets for radiation pollution biomonitoring are conifers, because they have high radiosensitivity. Previously accumulated information about the genetic nature of morphological abnormalities in gymnosperms, induced by acute and chronic irradiation in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, are briefly considered in this review. Since an additional number of important research results appeared in the last decade that are dedicated to the analysis of molecular biological and molecular genetic effects of chronic irradiation on the coniferous plants growing in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl disaster, all these data are also analyzed in the current review.