Enhanced phytoremediation of volatile environmental pollutants with transgenic trees

doi:10.1073/pnas.0703276104

Enhanced phytoremediation of volatile environmental pollutants with transgenic trees

*College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2100;
^‡Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2700;
^§Department of Forest Science, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5752;
^¶Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7350;
^‖Forestry and Natural Resources Department, Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2033; and
**Department of Environmental and Occupational Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

Edited by Ronald R. Sederoff, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and approved September 12, 2007 (received for review April 9, 2007)

Abstract

Small, volatile hydrocarbons, including trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and chloroform, are common environmental pollutants that pose serious health effects. We have developed transgenic poplar (Populus tremula × Populus alba) plants with greatly increased rates of metabolism and removal of these pollutants through the overexpression of cytochrome P450 2E1, a key enzyme in the metabolism of a variety of halogenated compounds. The transgenic poplar plants exhibited increased removal rates of these pollutants from hydroponic solution. When the plants were exposed to gaseous trichloroethylene, chloroform, and benzene, they also demonstrated superior removal of the pollutants from the air. In view of their large size and extensive root systems, these transgenic poplars may provide the means to effectively remediate sites contaminated with a variety of pollutants at much faster rates and at lower costs than can be achieved with current conventional techniques.

Footnotes

^†To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sldoty{at}u.washington.edu
Author contributions: S.L.D., C.A.J., and S.E.S. designed research; S.L.D., C.A.J., A.L.M., A.V., G.L.S., C.M., Z.K., G.X., J.W.K., and J.Y.P. performed research; R.M., S.H.S., and F.F. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; S.L.D., C.A.J., A.V., G.L.S., Z.K., J.W.K., J.W., and S.E.S. analyzed data; and S.L.D., C.A.J., and G.L.S. wrote the paper
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
Abbreviations:

TCE,

trichloroethylene;

GC-ECD,

gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector.