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Identification Of Heavy Metal Transporters

dc.contributor.authorZhai, Zhiyangen_US
dc.contributor.chairVatamaniuk, Olena Ken_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberVan Wijk, Klaasen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKochian, Leon V.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberHua, Jianen_US
dc.date.accessioned2012-12-17T13:51:08Z
dc.date.available2016-12-30T06:46:57Z
dc.date.issued2011-08-31en_US
dc.description.abstractIncreased release of heavy metals of geogenic and anthropogenic origin has led to generation of multiple polluted sites in the USA and across the world that are waiting for efficient clean-up technologies. Phytoremediation uses plants to mitigate these types of environmental problems, and provides a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to existing remediation solutions. Application of phytoremediation relies on the understanding of mechanisms of heavy metal detoxification in plants. As one of the most important heavy metal detoxification mechanisms, the phytochelatin dependent pathway plays an essential role in detoxification and sequestration of heavy metals in plants, fungi and some nematodes. While the mechanism of phytochelatin biosynthesis has been well established, proteins mediating transport of phytochelatins and/or heavy metal phytochelatin complexes have eluded definition. My PhD research led to the following findings: firstly, it was found that Arabidopsis Oligopeptide Transporter 3 (OPT3) mediates transport of cadmium and contributes to shoot accumulation of glutathione and phytochelatins. Secondly, in collaboration with three other research groups, it was shown that an ATPbinding cassette transporter of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Abc2, is the long-sought phytochelatin transporter on the vacuolar membrane. Identification of such transporter(s) greatly improves the understanding of heavy metal detoxification mechanisms and provides promising bioengineering target(s) for phytoremediation applications. Thirdly, an efficient reverse genetic method was developed to study the function of genes of interest through RNA interference in plant protoplasts. The protocol has been developed for Arabidopsis thaliana; however, since protoplasts can be isolated from different tissues and different plant species, direct transfer of synthetic double stranded RNA into protoplasts can be employed as a gene-silencing tool to study tissue specific processes in a variety of species, and can be adapted to a high-throughput format.en_US
dc.identifier.otherbibid: 7955580
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1813/30749
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectCadmiumen_US
dc.subjectOligopeptide transporteren_US
dc.subjectPhytoremidationen_US
dc.subjectPhytochelatinen_US
dc.subjectGlutathioneen_US
dc.subjectXylem re-absorptionen_US
dc.titleIdentification Of Heavy Metal Transportersen_US
dc.typedissertation or thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSoil and Crop Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorCornell Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy
thesis.degree.namePh. D., Soil and Crop Sciences

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