Abstract
Aiming at phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soils, we have been studying on plant responses to Cd at molecular levels. To facilitate the molecular dissection of the plant response, we have isolated several Arabidopsis mutants that showed altered responses to Cd. A mutant designated as T-26 is a candidate for the mutants that do incorporate Cd via roots, but fail to transport the incorporated Cd to aboveground tissues. To know the ability of T-26 plants to transport Cd from roots to aboveground tissues, we fed them with 30 μM CdCl2 via roots for 24 h and measured the Cd concentration of the aboveground tissues. The result showed that the aboveground tissues accumulated Cd at as low as about one third of the concentration noted for those of WT plants. It appeared therefore that T-26 mutant was defective somewhere in the Cd transporting pathway from roots to aboveground tissues.
