Generation of mercury-hyperaccumulating plants through transgenic expression of the bacterial mercury membrane transport protein MerC.
The merC gene from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans functions as a mercury uptake pump. MerC protein localizes in the cytoplasmic membrane of plant cells. When Arabidopsis thaliana and tobacco plants were transformed with the merC gene under the control of the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, the resulting overexpression of merC rendered the host plants hypersensitive to Hg2+ and they accumulated approximately twice as much Hg2+ ion as the wild type plants. Thus, bacterial mercuric ion transporters such as MerC may be useful molecular tools for producing transgenic plants that hyperaccumulate Hg2+ ion.
Sasaki
Yoshito
Y
Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
Hayakawa
Takahiko
T
Inoue
Chihiro
C
Miyazaki
Atsushi
A
Silver
Simon
S
Kusano
Tomonobu
T
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; C072715:merC protein, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans; D008628:Mercury