Heavy metal detoxification in higher plants - a review
Abstract
A set of heavy-metal-complexing peptides was isolated from plants and plant suspension cultures. The structure of these peptides was established as (gamma-glutamic acid-cysteine)n-glycine (n = 2-11) [(gamma-Glu-Cys)n-Gly]. These peptides appear upon induction of plants with metals of the transition and main groups (Ib-Va, Z = 29-83) of the periodic table of elements. These peptides, called phytochelatins (PC), are induced in all autotrophic plants so far analyzed, as well as in select fungi. Some species of the order Fabales and the family Poaceae synthesize aberrant PC that contain, at their C-terminal end, either beta-alanine, serine or glutamic acid. For this group of peptides the name iso-PC is proposed. The biosynthesis of PC proceeds by metal activation of a constitutive enzyme that uses glutathione (GSH) as a substrate; this enzyme is a gamma-glutamylcysteine dipeptidyl transpeptidase which was given the trivial name PC synthase. It catalyzes the following reaction: gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly + (gamma-Glu-Cys)n-Gly-->(gamma-Glu-Cys)n+1-Gly + Gly. The plant vacuole is the transient storage compartment for these peptides. They probably dissociate, and the metal-free peptide is subsequently degraded. Sequestration of heavy metals by PC confers protection for heavy-metal-sensitive enzymes. The isolation of a Cd(2+)-sensitive cadl mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, that is deficient in PC synthase, demonstrates conclusively the importance of PC for heavy metal tolerance. In spite of th…
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Phytochelatins (PCs) are (γ-Glu-Cys)n-Xaa polymers whose synthesis from glutathione (GSH) is promoted by heavy metals.
“Phytochelatins (PCs)1are (γ-Glu-Cys)n-Xaa polymers whose synthesis from glutathione (GSH) is promoted by heavy metals (1”
From Mechanism of Heavy Metal Ion Activation of Phytochelatin (PC) Synthase (2000) · cites this paper as [2]
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Cobbett, C., & Goldsbrough, P. (2002) · Annual Review of Plant Biology · doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.53.100301.135154 · Cited by 2,518 · see citing works
Vatamaniuk, O. K., Mari, S., Lu, Y.-P., & Rea, P. A. (1999) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.96.12.7110 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Mechanism of Heavy Metal Ion Activation of Phytochelatin (PC) Synthase
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- Authors
- Zenk, M. H.
- Affiliations
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Zenk, Meinhart H.
- Venue
- Gene
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1996-01
- Volume
- 179
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 21-30
- ISSN
- 0378-1119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1982649213
- Cited by
- 1,003
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 28.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Gene (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Heavy Metal Pollution Remediation
- Keywords
- phytochelatins, heavy metal detoxification, heavy metal tolerance, phytochelatin synthase, glutathione, metallothionein, plant vacuole, Arabidopsis thaliana, Fabales, Poaceae, metal sequestration
- MeSH terms
- Chelating Agents, Enzyme Induction, Glutathione, Inactivation, Metabolic, Metalloproteins, Peptides, Peptidyl Transferases, Plant Proteins, Plants, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Metals, Heavy, Aminoacyltransferases, Phytochelatins
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