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Biologists find a gene required for tolerance of heavy metals, previously known only in plants, in an animal

found, following the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The three metals processed by PC synthase -- arsenic, mercury and cadmium -- all rank among the 10 most common contaminants at EPA Superfund sites, and increasing emissions pose an acute problem for all organisms. These metals harm organisms, including humans, by displacing essential heavy metals such as copper and zinc from their cellular binding sites, by undergoing aberrant reactions with proteins and enzymes, and by promoting the formation of destructive active oxygen species.

Phytochelatins have been known in plants as a means of detoxifying heavy metals for some 15 years. Phytochelatin synthase works by polymerizing glutathione, a sulfur-rich peptide with a high affinity for cadmium. The products of this reactions, phytochelatins, bind very strongly onto heavy metal atoms, immobilizing them and preventing them from moving to parts of the cell where their toxic effects are exerted.


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Contact: Steve Bradt
bradt@pobox.upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania
6-Sep-2001


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