Expression data from Arabidopsis thaliana (Ler) rosette leaves treated with paraquat (methyl viologen)

We used microarrays to detail Arabidopsis gene expression in response to paraquat, a herbicide that acts as a terminal oxidant of photosystem I that in the light leads to the enhanced generation of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide inside plastids. Within a few hours after paraquat treatment changes in nuclear gene expression occur. Distinct sets of genes were activated that were different from those induced by another reactive oxygen species, singlet oxygen. Keywords: Time course Arabidopsis thaliana rosette leaves were harvested 1, 2, and 4 h after spraying either with a solution of 20 microM paraquat (methyl viologen, Sigma) in 0.1% Tween or with Tween alone for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays. Plants were grown on soil for 3 weeks under continuous light at 90 mmol. m-2 . s-1. For each sample, the rosette leaves of five to six 3-week-old plants (before they start bolting) were collected for RNA extraction. Total RNAs from two separate biological experiments were pooled for the preparation of cDNA and the subsequent synthesis of biotin-labeled complementary RNA as recommended by Affymetrix.