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Mammalian Metallothionein Functions in Plants

Bio/Technology volume 5, pages 1053–1056 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

A recombinant cauliflower mosaic virus (Ca-MTII) was constructed by inserting a cDNA clone of Chinese hamster metallothionein II into the open reading frame II of the cloned virus pCa-BB1. Systemically-infected Brassica campestris tissue contained metallothionein at a level of 0.5 percent of the soluble leaf protein. This efficient expression conferred four times the Cd-binding capacity when compared with Ca-BB1 infected leaves. Ca-MTII-infected leaves exposed to 1 mM CdCl2 bound all the free Cd whereas uninfected leaves possessed 43.8 nmol free Cd per milligram of protein. This may be responible for Cd resistance in the Ca-MTII plant cells. Metallothionein is the first mammalian gene product shown to be functional in plants.

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Author notes

  1. Daniel D. Lefebvre

    Present address: Department of Biology, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6

  2. Jean-François Laliberté

    Present address: Institut Armand Frappier, 531 Boul. des Prairies, Ville de Laval, Canada, H7N 423

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Engineering Section, Plant Research Centre, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0C6

    Daniel D. Lefebvre, Brian L. Miki & Jean-François Laliberté

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  1. Daniel D. Lefebvre
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  2. Brian L. Miki
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  3. Jean-François Laliberté
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Lefebvre, D., Miki, B. & Laliberté, JF. Mammalian Metallothionein Functions in Plants. Nat Biotechnol 5, 1053–1056 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1087-1053

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