Caesium-affected gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

Excessive caesium can be toxic to plants. Here we investigated Cs uptake and caesium-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. Accumulation was measured in plants grown for 5 wk on agar supplemented with nontoxic and up to toxic levels of Cs. Caesium-induced gene expression was studied by suppression-subtractive hybridization (SSH) and RT-PCR. Caesium accumulated in leaf rosettes dependent upon the external concentration in the growth media, whereas the potassium concentration decreased in rosettes. At a concentration of 850 pm, Cs plants showed reduced development, and withered with an increase in concentration to 1 mm Cs. SSH resulted in the isolation of 73 clones that were differentially expressed at a Cs concentration of 150 pm. Most of the genes identified belong to groups of genes encoding proteins in stress defence, detoxification, transport, homeostasis and general metabolism, and proteins controlling transcription and translation. The present study identified a number of marker genes for Cs in Arabidopsis grown under nontoxic Cs concentrations, indicating that Cs acts as an abiotic stress factor.