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Review
. 2023 Jan 26;24(3):2430.
doi: 10.3390/ijms24032430.

Phytochelatins: Sulfur-Containing Metal(loid)-Chelating Ligands in Plants

Ilya V Seregin  1 , Anna D Kozhevnikova  1
Affiliations
Review

Phytochelatins: Sulfur-Containing Metal(loid)-Chelating Ligands in Plants

Ilya V Seregin et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Phytochelatins (PCs) are small cysteine-rich peptides capable of binding metal(loid)s via SH-groups. Although the biosynthesis of PCs can be induced in vivo by various metal(loid)s, PCs are mainly involved in the detoxification of cadmium and arsenic (III), as well as mercury, zinc, lead, and copper ions, which have high affinities for S-containing ligands. The present review provides a comprehensive account of the recent data on PC biosynthesis, structure, and role in metal(loid) transport and sequestration in the vacuoles of plant cells. A comparative analysis of PC accumulation in hyperaccumulator plants, which accumulate metal(loid)s in their shoots, and in the excluders, which accumulate metal(loid)s in their roots, investigates the question of whether the endogenous PC concentration determines a plant's tolerance to metal(loid)s. Summarizing the available data, it can be concluded that PCs are not involved in metal(loid) hyperaccumulation machinery, though they play a key role in metal(loid) homeostasis. Unraveling the physiological role of metal(loid)-binding ligands is a fundamental problem of modern molecular biology, plant physiology, ionomics, and toxicology, and is important for the development of technologies used in phytoremediation, biofortification, and phytomining.

Keywords: metal and metalloid accumulation in plants; metal and metalloid detoxification; metal and metalloid transport; phytochelatin synthase; phytochelatins; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phytochelatin-mediated pathway of metal detoxification in plants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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