Breeding and evaluation of radiocesium uptake ability in higher plants by quantum beam technology

Tanaka, Atsushi

Huge efforts have been done for the remediation of large contaminated areas off-site TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). However, comprehensive monitoring of contaminated area is yet necessary for food safety and remediation of agricultural and forest area. We are now progressing actions by using our original cutting-edge technologies, "Ion Beam Breeding "and "Live Radiotracer Imaging". For the Ion Beam Breeding, two times or more cesium-absorbing Japanese millet mutants and mutants of radioresistant bacteria, and one-half or less cesium-absorbing rice mutants have been successfully selected. As for the Live Radiotracer Imaging technology, we have succeeded in developing the world's first gamma camera specialized for plant research which can continuously image relatively high energy -rays emitted from Cs-137 radiotracer. By using this new gamma camera, dynamics of radiocesium transport into/within plants can be elucidated.