It has been proposed that non-protein thiols and organic acids play a major role in cadmium phytoavailability distribution plants. In the Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum non-accumulator melongena, of these ligands accumulation detoxification mechanisms Cd are debated. this study, we used X-ray absorption spectroscopy to investigate speciation plants (roots, stem, leaves) soils for their cult...

Phytochelatins (PCs) with good binding affinities for a wide range of heavy metals were exploited to develop microbial sorbents for cadmium removal. PC synthase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe (SpPCS) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, resulting in PC synthesis and 7.5-times-higher Cd accumulation. The coexpression of a variant gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase desensitized to feedback inhib...

Low molecular weight intracellular sulfhydryl-containing compounds are responsible for the intracellular detoxification of metals such as Cd and Cu in eucaryotic phytoplankton. Glutathione, the most abundant thiol in non-stressed cells (0.8 to 2.8 mM), chelates metals directly, and also serves as the biochemical precursor from which phytochelatins are synthesized. Very little is known about phy...

The accumulation of toxic metals and metalloids, such as cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), or arsenic (As), as a consequence of various anthropogenic activities, poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. The ability of plants to take up mineral nutrients from the soil can be exploited to develop phytoremediation technologies able to alleviate the negative impact of toxic elements in...

Concentrations of particulate phytochelatin, a metal-binding peptide produced by eukaryotic phytoplankton, ranged from 2 to 50 pmol (g Chl a)-’ in samples collected from small harbors in southeastern New England. Although there was no obvious relationship between phytochelatin and total Cu concentrations, phytochelatin varied systematically with free Cu concentrations [Cu*+]. Transects in which...

The roles of low-molecular-weight thiols (LMWTs), such as glutathione and phytochelatins, in arsenic (As) tolerance and hyperaccumulation in Pteris vittata an As-hyperaccumulator fern remain to be better understood. This study aimed to thoroughly characterize LMWT synthesis in P. vittata to understand the roles played by LMWTs in As tolerance and hyperaccumulation. LMWT synthesis in P. vittata ...

The production of phytochelatins (PCs) provides an important means for plants to achieve tolerance to cadmium (Cd) toxicity. A reed gene encoding PC synthase (PaPCS) was isolated and its function tested through its heterologous expression in a strain of yeast sensitive to Cd. Subsequently, the Cd sensitive and high biomass accumulating species tall fescue was transformed either with PaPCS or Pa...