Molecular Genetics of Metal Detoxification: Prospects for Phytoremediation

We seek to define the genes involved in heavy metal tolerance and sequestration. Initially, two complementary strategies were taken: (1) clone and characterize the genes that complement cadmium hypersensitive mutants of fission yeast, specifically those responsible for production of metal-binding complexes, and (2) isolate genes that can confer cadmium hypertolerance to wild type strains of fission yeast. During the course of the investigation, we added a third strategy to the existing plan. In this third strategy, we sought to isolate the cDNAs that are specifically expressed during exposure to Cd. For the past year, the success in isolating a large number of genes using the second and third strategy has redirected our emphasis to concentrating on the characterization of these genes. Consequently, some of the work that was initiated with the first strategy has been put on hold