|
||
Plants
are being engineered to perform a variety of tasks to control mercury
(Hg) pollution by enhancing and modifiying their natural properties
to take up nutrient metals like zinc, copper, and iron.
The various strategies being explored include combinatons of the
following: enhanced up take of mercury from soil and water; enhanced
transport
within the
plant; enhanced
detoxificaiton
of organic
(methylmercury) and ionic mercury (Hg(II)); enhanced chemical sinks to
tie up mercury in stable chemical complexes; and enhanced pumps
to
shuttle mercury
complexes into plant cell vacuoles. Most of this work is being conducted
in model plants like Arabidopsis for research purposes,
but a few well tested strategies have been applied to larger plants like
cottonwood for field applications. |
 |
|
| This work is supported by the Department of Energy Environmental Manaagement Sciences Program. | ||