Relationship of chromosomal damage induced by caffeine to growth temperature and ATP level in proliferating cells

Caffeine is known to induce chromosomal aberrations in proliferating cells when they are incubated during G2 and mitotic prophase. In the present paper, this caffeine effect has been analyzed in Allium cepa root meristems growing at different culture temperatures under steady-state kinetics. Caffeine (1-10 mM) induces chromosomal aberrations in a dose-dependent manner, and the treatment efficiency correlates linearly with the square of caffeine concentration. The efficiency of caffeine incubations, within the range 5-25 degrees C during equivalent cycle time periods has also been studied. It has been found that the lower the culture temperature, the higher the level of chromosomal aberrations. Moreover, at different temperatures, the level of chromosomal aberrations is a simple function of caffeine concentration and the ATP level. Therefore, the efficiency of caffeine treatment appears to be determined by some interaction between caffeine concentration and cellular ATP level. Our present results demonstrate that the influence of growth temperature on the chromosome-breaking effect of caffeine can be, at least partially, explained by the ATP levels during the incubation periods. In short, under different kinetics of plant cell proliferation, the ATP level, and/or something correlating with it, could explain the efficiency of caffeine in inducing chromosomal aberrations: the lower the ATP level, the higher the caffeine efficiency.