Enhanced phytoremediation of volatile environmental pollutants with transgenic trees
Sharon L. Doty, C. Andrew James, Allison L. Moore, Azra Vajzovic, Glenda L. Singleton, Caiping Ma,
Zareen Khan, Gang Xin, Jun Won Kang, Jin Young Park, Richard Meilan, Steven H. Strauss,
Jasmine Wilkerson, Federico Farin, and Stuart E. Strand
PNAS October 23, 2007 vol. 104 no. 43
After the CO2 eater and less polluting paper producer GM eucalyptus, here comes the poplar for removal of pollutants.
GMOs are more and more green these days.
Small, volatile hydrocarbons, including trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and chloroform, are common environmental pollutants that pose serious health effects. We have developed transgenic poplar (Populus tremula Populus alba) plants with greatly increased rates of metabolism and removal of these pollutants through the overexpression of cytochrome P450 2E1, a key enzyme in the metabolism of a variety of halogenated compounds. The transgenic poplar plants exhibited increased removal rates of these pollutants from hydroponic solution. When the plants were exposed to gaseous trichloroethylene, chloroform, and benzene, they also demonstrated superior removal of the pollutants from the air. In view of their large size and extensive root systems, these transgenic poplars may provide the means to effectively remediate sites contaminated with a variety of pollutants at much faster rates and at lower costs than can be achieved with current conventional techniques.
