Figure 1.

Effects of cadmium on the transcription of stress-responsive genes. Total RNA was extracted from non-treated or cadmium-treated C. elegans, and mRNA levels of cadmium-responsive (cdr-1 (triangle), mtl-1 (square), mtl-2 (circle)) and general stress-responsive (gst-38 (asterisk), hsp-70 (cross); T24H10.4 (diamond)) genes were measured with qRT-PCR. All measurements were normalized to the mRNA level of mlc-2. Fold change was normalized to the mRNA levels observed in non-exposed nematodes. Results were displayed in mean log₂fold ± SE (n = 3). (a) The effect of cadmium concentration on mRNA levels following 24 h exposure. (b) The effect of exposure time on mRNA levels following exposure to 100 μM cadmium.