Phytochelatin 2 accumulates in roots of the seagrass Enhalus acoroides collected from sediment highly contaminated with lead

• Published in: Biometals Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 249 - 260
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Xuan-Vy, Le-Ho, Khanh-Hy, Papenbrock, Jutta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis of variance; Aquatic Organisms; Aquatic plants; Biochemistry; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Chelating Agents - chemistry; Chelating Agents - isolation & purification; Chelating Agents - metabolism; Contamination; Correlation; Detoxification; Enhalus acoroides; Flowers & plants; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Heavy metals; Hydrocharitaceae - chemistry; Hydrocharitaceae - metabolism; Kinetics; Lead; Lead (metal); Lead - isolation & purification; Life Sciences; Liquid chromatography; Medicine/Public Health; Microbiology; Organs; Peptides; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Phytochelatins - biosynthesis; Phytochelatins - chemical synthesis; Phytochelatins - isolation & purification; Phytochemicals; Phytoremediation; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant Physiology; Plant Roots - chemistry; Plant Roots - metabolism; Protein Binding; Rhizome - chemistry; Rhizome - metabolism; Roots; Sediments; Variance analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification; Water pollution; Lead; Correlation; Phytochelatins; Seagrasses; Enhalus acoroides
• ISSN: 0966-0844; 1572-8773
• DOI: 10.1007/s10534-017-9998-9

Phytochelatins (PCs), the heavy metal-binding peptides of plants, play a main function in heavy metal detoxification. In this study, Enhalus acoroides samples collected at six distinct seagrass beds from the coast of Khanh Hoa province, Viet Nam, were evaluated for their PCs. The contents of different PCs in each organ including leaf, rhizome, and root were determined by using HPLC analysis. Significant differences of PC 2 contents among specific organs and their relation were tested by ANOVA, Tukey test, and Pearson’s correlation. The results showed that higher PC 2 , appearance of PC 3 and a strong correlation between PC 2 and Pb concentration were found in the root organ collected from a Pb contaminated area. We conclude that high Pb in the sediment induce high PC 2 and PC 3 production in the root. This first report on in situ detection of PCs of seagrass encourages future investigation on the ability to use seagrass for phytoremediation and as a bioindicator of heavy metals based on PC contents.