Ferroportin transporters contribute to nickel hyperaccumulation in Odontarrhena chalcidica.
Cai X, Hu Z, Sun D, Li X, Feng H
Phytoremediation
PubMedNickel pollution from mining contaminates soils near farms and parks worldwide, and these findings bring us closer to growing specially engineered plants that can clean up that contamination cheaply and naturally — without digging up the ground.
Some plants have a remarkable ability to soak up large amounts of toxic metals from soil without being harmed — scientists wanted to know how. They studied a wild plant that naturally hyperaccumulates nickel and discovered three 'transporter' proteins that act like a relay team: one moves nickel from roots up into leaves, and two others lock it safely inside leaf cells. When they put these proteins into a regular plant, it could clean up nickel-polluted soil far more effectively than normal plants, while staying healthy.
Key Findings
OcFPN1, a root-based transporter, increased nickel movement from roots to shoots by 5.0- to 7.1-fold in engineered Arabidopsis compared to wild-type plants.
OcFPN2;1, a shoot-based vacuolar transporter, increased shoot nickel accumulation by 51.1–97.5% on its own, but did not reduce nickel toxicity when expressed alone.
Co-expressing both OcFPN1 and OcFPN2;1 roughly doubled shoot nickel concentration and alleviated toxicity symptoms — plants showed less yellowing and grew longer roots under nickel stress.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified three proteins in a nickel-hyperaccumulating plant that work together to pull toxic nickel from soil and store it safely in leaves. When these proteins were engineered into a common lab plant, it accumulated nearly twice as much nickel without showing signs of toxicity.
Abstract Preview
Nickel (Ni) is critical for modern technologies, yet widespread Ni contamination caused by mining activities and naturally high geological backgrounds poses risks to ecosystems and agricultural saf...
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