title: Cadmium induces DNA damage in tobacco roots, but no DNA damage, somatic mutations or homologous recombination in tobacco leaves.
abstract: The heavy metal cadmium (Cd(2+)) applied on tobacco roots in the form of cadmium chloride, induced significantly higher levels of DNA damage as measured by the cellular Comet assay than did treatment of isolated root nuclei, analyzed by use of the acellular Comet assay. DNA damage induced by Cd(2+) in roots of a transgenic catalase-deficient tobacco line (CAT1AS) was higher than in wild-type tobacco (SR1) roots. In contrast to treatment with the positive control ethyl methanesulphonate, Cd(2+) induced no significant DNA damage in leaf nuclei, and neither somatic mutations, nor homologous recombination as measured by the GUS genereactivation assay, were observed in leaves. Analysis of the accumulation of cadmium by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry demonstrates that roots accumulate almost 50-fold more cadmium than above-ground parts of the tobacco seedlings. This may explain the absence of Cd(2+) genotoxicity in leaves.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Na Karlovce 1a, 16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic. gichner@ueb.cas.cz
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gichner
authors.forename: Zdenka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Patková
authors.forename: Jirina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Száková
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demnerová
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity*; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D009154:Mutation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium