1.
Research on Root Responses to Pb and Zn Combined Stress of Carex putuoshan.
Hu, YL, Tan, JL, Wang, CL, Yang, ZB, Yang, YX, Chen, Z, Lin, LJ, Wang, YJ, Sun, G, Zhu, XM, et al
Protein and peptide letters. 2016;(5):478-87
Abstract
Pb hyper-accumulated Carex putuoshan was taken as experimental material and subjected to combined stress of Pb and Zn. The differential expression of proteins in their roots were analyzed by Proteomic Approach. The protein that was directly involved in the cellular defense under the Pb and Zn combined stress was separated, and expression of those genes was analyzed with Carex Evergold as control. The results were obtained by MALDI-TOF/MS analysis. After applying Pb and Zn combined stress, the expression of 9 protein spots (including 7 different proteins, 2 identical proteins, 1 unknown protein) in Carex putuoshan root was found to be significantly up-regulated. Five proteins were obtained from the 9 proteins related to carbohydrate metabolism, including malate dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, frutose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase, enolase, and 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Two proteins were related to protein biosynthesis, including isoflavone reductase and phytochelatin synthase (PCS). From these proteins, the most important protein is PCS, which is a key enzyme in the synthesis of phytochelatins (PCs) and plays an important role in chelation. It is directly involved in cellular defense under Pb and Zn stress. After Pb and Zn combined stress, the CpPCS in Carex putuoshan was cloned. The full length of cDNA is 1461 bps, and it encodes 486 amino acids with molecular weight of 53.86 kD and pI value of 6.12. Two typical phytochelatin synthase subfamily domains constitute CpPCS protein, which includes three adjacent Cys-Cys elements in the C-terminal region. Phylogenetic analysis of PCS proteins from different species showed that it had the closest relationship with the Oryza sativa and Triticum aestivum. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis indicated that CpPCS and CePCS (Carex Evergold) genes were expressed in the root. The CpPCS and CePCS genes were up-regulated by Pb and Zn treatments. The expression of CpPCS was higher than that of CePCS under the same condition. The study found that CpPCS expression was increased by Pb and Zn stress in the Carex putuoshan enrichment process of Pb, which lead to high expression of PCS protein. CpPCS improved the accumulation ability and resistance of Carex putuoshan to heavy metals with the expression level of glucose metabolism related proteins increasing after Pb and Zn stress.
2.
Dithiocarbamate-capped silver nanoparticles as a resonance light scattering probe for simultaneous detection of lead(II) ions and cysteine.
Cao, H, Wei, M, Chen, Z, Huang, Y
The Analyst. 2013;(8):2420-6
Abstract
We investigated the suitability of dithiocarbamate (DTC) capped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) as resonance light scattering (RLS) probes for the simultaneous sensing of Pb(2+) and cysteine. The DTC capping ligands are generated by a very simple in situ method through reaction of carbon disulfide with diethanolamine as primary precursor molecules under ultrasonic irradiation. This strategy was based on the fact that Pb(2+) could induce the aggregation of DTC-Ag NPs due to the strong metal affinity of DTC along with an enhanced RLS signal. After optimizing some experimental conditions (including the pH value of the solution, concentration of DTC-Ag NPs, and ion strength), a very simple and facile sensing system has been developed for the detection of Pb(2+) in water based on RLS technology. The proposed system promises excellent selectivity, a wide linear response range and high sensitivity for Pb(2+). The linear response range for Pb(2+) was from 0.01 μM to 60 μM. The limit of detection (S/N = 3σ) for Pb(2+) was as low as 4 nM. The proposed method was successfully used to detect Pb(2+) in river and tap water samples, indicating the potential of this new, sensitive and selective method in water quality monitoring. Meanwhile, due to the strong binding preference of cysteine toward Pb(2+) by the formation of Pb(2+)-S bonds, Pb(2+) was removed from the surfaces of the DTC-Ag NPs, leading to redispersion of DTC-Ag NPs, along with a decreased RLS signal. The possibility of the proposed system for the sensing of cysteine was also investigated.