| Title: | Phytodetoxification of hazardous organomercurials by genetically engineered plants |
| Author(s): | Bizily SP; Rugh CL; Meagher RB; |
| Address: | "Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7223, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1087-0156 (Print) 1087-0156 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Methylmercury is a highly toxic, organic derivative found in mercury-polluted wetlands and coastal sediments worldwide. Though commonly present at low concentrations in the substrate, methylmercury can biomagnify to concentrations that poison predatory animals and humans. In the interest of developing an in situ detoxification strategy, a model plant system was transformed with bacterial genes (merA for mercuric reductase and merB for organomercurial lyase) for an organic mercury detoxification pathway. Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing both genes grow on 50-fold higher methylmercury concentrations than wild-type plants and up to 10-fold higher concentrations than plants that express merB alone. An in vivo assay demonstrated that both transgenes are required for plants to detoxify organic mercury by converting it to volatile and much less toxic elemental mercury" |
| Keywords: | "Air Pollutants/metabolism Arabidopsis/enzymology/*genetics Biodegradation, Environmental Drug Resistance Ecology Gases Genetic Engineering/*methods Hazardous Substances/*metabolism Lyases/genetics/metabolism Mercury/metabolism Methylmercury Compounds/meta;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineBizily, S P Rugh, C L Meagher, R B eng Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2000/02/05 Nat Biotechnol. 2000 Feb; 18(2):213-7. doi: 10.1038/72678" |
