Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
18
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-10-4
pubmed:abstractText
Phytochelatins are small metal-binding polypeptides synthesized by algae in response to high metal concentrations. Using a very sensitive HPLC method, we have quantified phytochelatins from phytoplankton in laboratory cultures at environmentally relevant metal concentrations and in marine field samples. Intracellular concentrations of phytochelatin, in the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, exhibit a distinct dose-response relation with free Cd2+ concentration in the medium--not with total Cd(2+)--and are detectable even when the free Cd2+ concentration is less than 1 pM. In Massachusetts Bay, phytochelatin levels (normalized to chlorophyll a) in the particulate fraction are similar to those measured in laboratory cultures exposed to picomolar free Cd2+ concentrations and exhibit a decreasing seaward trend. Incubations of natural samples with added Cd2+ confirmed the induction of the peptides by this metal. Ambient phytochelatin concentrations thus appear to provide a measure of the metal stress resulting from the complex mixture of trace metals and chelators in natural waters.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0027-8424
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
30
pubmed:volume
91
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
8433-6
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-9-13
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Phytochelatin production by marine phytoplankton at low free metal ion concentrations: laboratory studies and field data from Massachusetts Bay.
pubmed:affiliation
R. M. Parsons Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't