Phytoremediation of Mercury- and Methylmercury-Polluted Soils Using Genetically Engineered Plants

摘要: Inorganic mercury in contaminated soils and sediments is relatively immobile, though biological chemical processes can transform it to more toxic bioavailable methylmercury. Methylmercury neurotoxic vertebrates biomagnified animal tissues as passed from prey predator. Traditional remediation strategies for are expensive site-destructive. As an alternative we propose the use of transgenic aquatic, salt marsh, upland plants remove available inorganic methylmercury sediments. Plants engineered with a modified bacterial mercuric reductase gene, merA, capable converting Hg(II) taken up by roots much less Hg(0), which volatilized plant. express organo-mercurial lyase merB, plant into sulfhydryl-bound Hg(II). expressing both genes ionic mercu...