Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 53, No. 379, pp. 2381-2392,
December 1, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
The role of phytochelatins in constitutive and adaptive heavy metal tolerances in hyperaccumulator and non-hyperaccumulator metallophytes
Received 17 May 2002; Accepted 2 August 2002
1 Department of Ecology and Physiology of Plants, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Merlewood, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU, UK
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +31 20 4447123. E-mail: hschat{at}bio.vu.nl
4 Present address: Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal, Faculdad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Abbreviations: BSO: L-buthionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine; PC: phytochelatin; GSH: glutathione; 
-ECS: -glutamylcysteine synthetase; GS: glutathione synthase; PCS: phytochelatin synthase.
Using the -glutamylcysteine synthetase inhibitor, L-buthionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine (BSO), the role for phytochelatins (PCs) was evaluated in Cu, Cd, Zn, As, Ni, and Co tolerance in non-metallicolous and metallicolous, hypertolerant populations of Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke, Thlaspi caerulescens J.&C. Presl., Holcus lanatus L., and Agrostis castellana Boiss. et Reuter. Based on plant-internal PC-thiol to metal molar ratios, the metals’ tendency to induce PC accumulation decreased in the order As/Cd/Cu > Zn > Ni/Co, and was consistently higher in non-metallicolous plants than in hypertolerant ones, except for the case of As. The sensitivities to Cu, Zn, Ni, and Co were consistently unaffected by BSO treatment, both in non-metallicolous and hypertolerant plants, suggesting that PC-based sequestration is not essential for constitutive tolerance or hypertolerance to these metals. Cd sensitivity was considerably increased by BSO, though exclusively in plants lacking Cd hypertolerance, suggesting that adaptive cadmium hypertolerance is not dependent on PC-mediated sequestration. BSO dramatically increased As sensitivity, both in non-adapted and As-hypertolerant plants, showing that PC-based sequestration is essential for both normal constitutive tolerance and adaptive hypertolerance to this metalloid. The primary function of PC synthase in plants and algae remains elusive.
Key words: Buthionine sulphoximine, heavy metal tolerance, Holcus lanatus, hyperaccumulator, metallophyte, phyto chelatins, Silene vulgaris, Thlaspi caerulescens.
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