Abstract
Metallothionein (MT) is a cysteine-rich, low-molecular-weight protein that can bind to cadmium ions and reduce their toxicity to plants. In this study, we cloned the PaMT3-1 gene encoding an unstable protein of 63 amino acids from the cadmium hyperaccumulator Phytolacca americana. The gene was inserted into a plant expression vector and introduced into tobacco plants. The cadmium content of the transgenic plants was measured after treatment with 100 mM CdCl2 for 7 days. Transgenic and wild-type roots had similar cadmium contents, whereas the cadmium content of transgenic leaves was 66.28–78.70% of the wild type. The transport coefficient of cadmium in transgenic plants was decreased by 23.31–35.52% relative to the wild type. According to various physiological indexes, including malondialdehyde content, relative electrolyte leakage, root activity, and soluble sugar content, the transgenic plants performed better than the wild type. The PaMT3-1 gene can significantly improve plant resistance to cadmium and has potential as an important gene resource in phytoremediation. Our findings could also contribute to an understanding of complex processes and mechanisms involved in phytoremediation.
Key message
Over-expressing a metallothionein gene PaMT3-1 from Phytolacca americana in tobacco plants showed enhanced cadmium tolerance that would be important gene resource for phytoremediation.
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Acknowledgements
The research was granted by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (#5122019) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Grants (No. 2015ZCQ-SW-01)
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. ZJ and LX performed material preparation and research; YP, YR and LJ analyzed data; ZJ and XJ wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Communicated by Mohammad Faisal.
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Zhi, J., Liu, X., Yin, P. et al. Overexpression of the metallothionein gene PaMT3-1 from Phytolacca americana enhances plant tolerance to cadmium. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 143, 211–218 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-020-01914-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-020-01914-2