Intracellular imaging of cesium distribution in Arabidopsis using Cesium Green

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was one of the most serious adverse effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, was accompanied by the release of a large quantity of radioactive materials including (137)Cs to the environment. In a previous report, we developed and proposed a cesium (Cs) fluorescent probe, "Cesium Green", that enables the detection of cesium carbonate particles by spraying an alcoholic solution of the Cesium Green probe. In this paper, the sensing activity of this probe was investigated for its selectivity (by using an optode method) and for its application to detect micrometer-sizes Cs particles. Cesium Green was also assessed for its use in plant cellular imaging of Cs localization in Arabidopsis. Cesium Green enabled high-resolution Cs imaging of Cs-containing particles and of Cs contained in plants.