title: Overexpressing GSH1 and AsPCS1 simultaneously increases the tolerance and accumulation of cadmium and arsenic in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: The goal of this study was to develop transgenic plants with increased tolerance for and accumulation of heavy metals and metalloids from soil by simultaneous overexpression of AsPCS1 and GSH1 (derived from garlic and baker's yeast) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phytochelatins (PCs) and glutathione (GSH) are the main binding peptides involved in chelating heavy metal ions in plants and other living organisms. Single-gene transgenic lines had higher tolerance to and accumulated more Cd and As than wild-type. Compared to single-gene transgenic lines, dual-gene transformants exhibited significantly higher tolerance to and accumulated more Cd and As. One of the dual-gene transgenic lines, PG1, accumulated twice the amount of Cd as single-gene transgenic lines. Simultaneous overexpression of AsPCS1 and GSH1 led to elevated total PC production in transgenic Arabidopsis. These results indicate that such a stacking of modified genes is capable of increasing Cd and As tolerance and accumulation in transgenic lines, and represents a highly promising new tool for use in phytoremediation efforts.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Nan XinCun XiangShan, Beijing 100093, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiangbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D019881:Aminoacyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D005737:Garlic / Q000201:enzymology; D015870:Gene Expression; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D019881:Aminoacyltransferases; C093784:glutathione gamma-glutamylcysteinyltransferase; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase; C493655:Gsh1 protein, Arabidopsis; D001151:Arsenic