Arbitrary use of insecticides in agricultural practices cause sever environmental hazard that adversely affects the growth and productivity of edible crops. Considering theses, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the toxicological potential of two neonicotinoid insecticides, imidacloprid (IMID) and thiamethoxam (THIA) using chickpea as a test crop. Application of insecticides at three varying doses revealed a gradual decrease in biological performance of chickpea plants which however, varied noticeably among insecticides and their doses. Significant (P≤0.05) decline in germination efficiency, length of plant organs under in vitro condition was observed in a dose related manner. Among insecticides, 300 μgIMIDkg^-1 (3X dose) maximally and significantly (P≤0.05) inhibited germination efficiency, vigor index, length, dry matter accumulation, photosynthetic pigment formation, nodule volume and mass, nutrient uptake, grain yield and protein over untreated control. In contrast, 75 μgTHIAkg^-1 (3X dose) considerably declined the leghaemoglobin content, shoot phosphorus and root nitrogen. Enhanced expression of stress biomarkers including proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), and antioxidant defence enzymes was noticed in the presence of insecticides. For instance, at 3X IMID, shoot proline, MDA, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and peroxidase (POD) were increased significantly (P≤0.05) by 66%, 81%, 36% and 35%, respectively. Additionally, electrolyte leakage was maximally (77%) increased at 3X dose of iIMID, whereas, H₂O₂ in foliage was maximally accumulated (0.0156 μ moles min^-1 g^-1 fw) at 3X dose of THIA which was 58% greater than untreated foliage. A clear distortion/damage in tip and surface of roots as and ultrastructural deformation in xylem and phloem of plant tissues an indication of insecticidal phytotoxicity was observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM). For oxidative stress and cytotoxicity assessment, root tips were stained with combination of acridine orange and propidium iodide, and Evan blue dyes and examined. Confocal laser scanning microscopic (CLSM) images of roots revealed a 10-fold and 13.5-fold increase in red and blue fluorescence when 3X IMID treated roots were assessed quantitatively. Conclusively, the present investigation recommends that a careful and protected approach should be adopted before the application of insecticides in agricultural ecosystems.

在农业实践中任意使用杀虫剂会造成严重的环境危害，对食用作物的生长和生产力产生不利影响。考虑到这些问题，本研究的目的是使用鹰嘴豆作为试验作物，评估两种新烟碱类杀虫剂吡虫啉（IMID）和噻虫嗪（THIA）的毒理学潜力。以三种不同剂量施用杀虫剂表明鹰嘴豆植物的生物学性能逐渐下降，但是在杀虫剂及其剂量之间存在明显差异。以剂量相关的方式观察到在体外条件下，发芽效率，植物器官长度显着（P≤0.05）下降。其中杀虫剂，300μgIMIDkg ^-1（3X剂量）最大限度和显著（P ≤0.05）抑制了发芽效率，活力指数，长度，干物质积累，光合色素形成，根瘤体积和质量，养分吸收，谷粒产量和蛋白质，超过了未处理的对照。相比之下，75μgTHIAkg ^-1（3X剂量）显着降低了血红蛋白含量，芽磷和根氮。在杀虫剂的存在下，包括脯氨酸，丙二醛（MDA）和抗氧化防御酶在内的应激生物标记物的表达增强。例如，在3X IMID，拍摄脯氨酸，MDA，抗坏血酸过氧化物酶（APX），愈创木酚过氧化物酶（GPX），过氧化物酶（POD）的显著增加（P ≤ 66％，81％，36％和35％，分别为0.05） 。此外，在3倍剂量的iIMID时，电解质泄漏最大程度地增加（77％），而叶子中的₂ O ₂最大积累（0.0156μ摩尔min ^-1 g ^-1fw）的THIA剂量为3倍，比未处理的叶子大58％。在扫描电子显微镜（SEM）下观察到植物组织的木质部和韧皮部的根尖和表面有明显的变形/损伤以及木质部和韧皮部的超微结构变形。为了评估氧化应激和细胞毒性，用tips啶橙和碘化丙啶以及伊文蓝染料对根尖进行染色并进行检查。根的共聚焦激光扫描显微镜（CLSM）图像显示，当对3X IMID处理过的根进行定量评估时，红色和蓝色荧光增加了10倍和13.5倍。最后，本次调查建议在农业生态系统中使用杀虫剂之前应采取谨慎和受保护的方法。