Tolerance to toxic metals by a gene family of phytochelatin synthases from plants and yeast
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Phytochelatins play major roles in metal detoxification in plants and fungi. However, genes encoding phytochelatin synthases have not yet been identified. By screening for plant genes mediating metal tolerance we identified a wheat cDNA, TaPCS1, whose expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in a dramatic increase in cadmium tolerance. TaPCS1 encodes a protein of approximately 55 kDa with no similarity to proteins of known function. We identified homologs of this new gene family from Arabidopsis thaliana, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and interestingly also Caenorhabditis elegans. The Arabidopsis and S.pombe genes were also demonstrated to confer substantial increases in metal tolerance in yeast. PCS-expressing cells accumulate more Cd2+ than controls. PCS expression mediates Cd2+ tolerance even in yeast mutants that are either deficient in vacuolar acidification or impaired in vacuolar biogenesis. PCS-induced metal resistance is lost upon exposure to an inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis, a process necessary for phytochelatin formation. Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells disrupted in the PCS gene exhibit hypersensitivity to Cd2+ and Cu2+ and are unable to synthesize phytochelatins upon Cd2+ exposure as determined by HPLC analysis. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells expressing PCS produce phytochelatins. Moreover, the recombinant purified S.pombe PCS protein displays phytochelatin synthase activity. These data demonstrate that PCS genes encode phytochelatin synthases and mediate metal detoxification in eukaryotes.
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Genes encoding PC synthase from Arabidopsis, S. pombe, and wheat, designated AtPCS1, SpPCS, and TaPCS1, respectively, encode 40-50% sequence-similar 50-55-kDa polypeptides active in the synthesis of PCs from GSH.
“Isolated from Arabidopsis,S. pombe, and wheat, these genes, designatedAtPCS1, SpPCS, and TaPCS1, respectively, encode 40–50% sequence-similar 50–55-kDa polypeptides active in the synthesis of PCs from GSH (11-13”
From Mechanism of Heavy Metal Ion Activation of Phytochelatin (PC) Synthase (2000) · cites this paper as [11]
The Sequence analysis and TaPCS1 homologs section identifies the three genes and reports a predicted mass of 55 kDa for TaPCS1, but 46.7 kDa for the S. pombe homolog; it reports 55% and 28% amino-acid identity with the Arabidopsis and S. pombe homologs, not 40–50% similarity for all three. The PCS genes mediate phytochelatin synthesis section reports synthesis of phytochelatins from glutathione, supporting the functional part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSpPCS disruptants are hypersensitive to heavy metals and deficient in cellular PCs.
“SpPCS disruptants are hypersensitive to heavy metals and deficient in cellular PCs (11”
From Mechanism of Heavy Metal Ion Activation of Phytochelatin (PC) Synthase (2000) · cites this paper as [11]
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- Authors
- Clemens, S., Kim, E. J., Neumann, D., & Schroeder, J. I.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schroeder, Julian I.
- Venue
- The EMBO Journal
- Published
- 1999-06-15
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 3325-3333
- ISSN
- 0261-4189 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2075
- PMC
- PMC1171413
- OpenAlex
- W2061358635
- Cited by
- 660
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 45.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The EMBO Journal (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- University of California, San Diego
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
- Keywords
- phytochelatin synthase, phytochelatins, metal tolerance, cadmium detoxification, metal detoxification, glutathione synthesis, vacuolar acidification, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, copper sensitivity, gene family
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Cadmium, Cloning, Molecular, Copper, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Glutathione, Inactivation, Metabolic, Metalloproteins, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Plant Proteins, Recombinant Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces, Vacuoles, Triticum, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, Aminoacyltransferases, Phytochelatins
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