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4674616 
Journal Article 
Lead tolerance and accumulation in Hirschfeldia incana, a Mediterranean Brassicaceae from metalliferous mine spoils 
Auguy, F; Fahr, M; Moulin, P; Brugel, A; Laplaze, L; Mzibri, ME; Filali-Maltouf, A; Doumas, P; Smouni, A 
2013 
1 
PLoS ONE
EISSN: 1932-6203 
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE 
SAN FRANCISCO 
8 
5 
e61932 
English 
23667449 
WOS:000319654700018 
Lead is a heavy metal of particular concern with respect to environmental quality and health. The lack of plant species that accumulate and tolerate Pb is a limiting factor to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in Pb tolerance. In this study we identified Hirschfeldia incana, a Brassicaceae collected from metalliferous mine spoils in Morocco, as a Pb accumulator plant. H. incana exhibited high Pb accumulation in mine soils and in hydroponic cultures. Major Pb accumulation occurred in the roots and a part of Pb translocated from the roots to the shoots, even to the siliques. These findings demonstrated that H. incana is a Pb accumulator species. The expression of several candidate genes after Pb-exposure was measured by quantitative PCR and two of them, HiHMA4 and HiMT2a, coding respectively for a P1B-type ATPase and a metallothionein, were particularly induced by Pb-exposure in both roots and leaves. The functional characterization of HiHMA4 and HiMT2a was achieved using Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutants. Pb content and primary root growth analysis confirmed the role of these two genes in Pb tolerance and accumulation. H. incana could be considered as a good experimental model to identify genes involved in lead tolerance and accumulation in plants.