To understand how microbial communities and functional genes respond to arsenic contamination in the rhizosphere of Pteris vittata, five soil samples with different arsenic contamination levels were collected from the rhizosphere of P. vittata and nonrhizosphere areas and investigated by Biolog, geochemical, and functional gene microarray (GeoChip 3.0) analyses. Biolog analysis revealed that th...

This greenhouse experiment evaluated the influence of arsenic uptake by arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata L. and non-arsenic hyperaccumulator Nephrolepis exaltata L. on arsenic chemistry in bulk and rhizosphere soil. The plants were grown for 8 weeks in a rhizopot with a soil containing 105 mg kg(-1) arsenic. The soil arsenic was fractionated into five fractions with decreasing availabili...

We investigated effects of arsenate (AsV), chromate (CrVI) and sulfate on As and Cr uptake and translocation by arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV), which was exposed to AsV, CrVI and sulfate at 0, 0.05, 0.25 or 1.25 mM for 2-wk in hydroponic system. PV was effective in accumulating large amounts of As (4598 and 1160 mg/kg in the fronds and roots at 0.05 mM AsV) and Cr (234 and 12,630 ...

The fern Pteris vittata accumulates unusually high levels of arsenic. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and XAS imaging, we reveal the distribution of arsenic species in vivo. Arsenate is transported through the vascular tissue from the roots to the fronds (leaves), where it is reduced to arsenite and stored at high concentrations. Arsenic-thiolate species surrounding veins may be inter...

The sporophyte of the fern Pteris vittata is known to hyperaccumulate arsenic (As) in its fronds to >1% of its dry weight. Hyperaccumulation of As by plants has been identified as a valuable trait for the development of a practical phytoremediation processes for removal of this potentially toxic trace element from the environment. However, because the sporophyte of P. vittata is a slow growing ...

Ferns (Pteridophyta) are very important members of the plant kingdom that lag behind other taxa with regards to our understanding of their genetics, genomics, andmolecular biology. We report here, to our knowledge, the first instance of stable transformation of fern with recovery of transgenic sporophytes. Spores of the arsenic hyperaccumulating fern Pteris vittata and tetraploid ‘C-fern Expres...