US EPA

1353192 

Journal Article 

Phytoremediation for Arsenic Contamination: Arsenate Reductase 

Sheena, S; Nordin, AB; Tang, CG; Sung-Kun, Kim 

2009 

1 

Research Journal of Biotechnology
ISSN: 0973-6263 

4 

1 

26-31 

WOS:000264355800006 

Arsenic is a toxic pollutant present in the environment that causes serious health issues. Phytoremediation would be a solution to mitigate arsenic contamination in soil or water Two forms of arsenic mainly exist in the environment, arsenite, [As(III)] and arsenate, [As(V)]. In plant mechanisms, arsenate reductase reduces arsenate to arsenite with the help of thioredoxins or glutaredoxins, which serve as electron donors. Subsequently, arsenite can be stored in the plant vacuole. For example, the Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic plant contains bacterial arsenate reductase and glutamylcysteine synthase, which enhance its ability to store two to three times more arsenic per gram of tissue than the non-transgenic plant. Further investigation of the mechanism of arsenic uptake in plants is needed to provide a foundation to develop better transgenic arsenic hype raccumulators. 

Phytoremediation; Arsenate reductase; Electron donor