CGC Bibliography Paper 5313

Worms take the "phyto" out of "phytochelatins".

Vatamaniuk OK, Bucher EA, Ward JT, Rea PA

Medline:
11814595
Citation:
Trends in Biotechnology 20: 61-64 2002
Type:
REVIEW
Genes:
pcs-1
Abstract:
Phytochelatin synthase is the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of heavy-metal-binding peptides (phytochelatins) from glutathione and related thiols. It has recently been determined that it is not only restricted to plants and some fungi, as was once thought, but also has an essential role in heavy-metal detoxification in the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. These findings and others that demonstrate phytochelatin synthase-coding sequences in the genomes of several other invertebrates, including pathogenic nematodes, schistosomes and roundworms, herald a new era in phytochelatin research, in which these novel post-translationally synthesized peptides will not only be investigated in the context of phytoremediation but also from a clinical parasitological standpoint.