Effect of the Static Magnetic Fields on the Circadian Rhythm in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

The influence of geomagnetic field on various biological processes is certainly an interesting research field, and more work is being
performed across the globe. However, the impact of varying magnetic flux density on plant circadian rhythms has not yet been
completely investigated. Different researchers have mostly focused their attention on the molecular workings of circadian rhythms in
various plant systems and the circadian architecture of transcriptomes under varying conditions. The present investigation evaluated
the influence of variable geomagnetic field on the expression of genes that are under the control of circadian rhythm, and checked
whether the expression pattern of these genes with respect to time (circadian nature) under different magnetic flux density changes
or not in Arabidopsis seedlings. This study examined the impact of varying magnetic flux densities on the mRNA expression levels of
six genes in Arabidopsis thaliana during the final 33 hours of their total 120 hour growth period. A. thaliana seedlings were subjected
to four distinct magnetic flux densities (0, 25, 50, and 90 μT), and the abundance of transcripts for chlorophyll a/b binding protein 4,
the large subunit of RuBisCO, rubisco activase, chalcone synthase, porphobilinogen synthase, and phytoene dehydrogenase genes was
examined. While the present study’s findings lend credence to the idea that the aforementioned genes are differentially expressed in
response to changes in magnetic flux density, it also proved that the circadian nature of these genes was largely unaffected, with their
expression pattern remaining largely unaltered regardless of the strength of the magnetic field.