title: Generation of mercury-hyperaccumulating plants through transgenic expression of the bacterial mercury membrane transport protein MerC.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.forename: Tomonobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusano
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; C072715:merC protein, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans; D008628:Mercury