Toxicity of different forms of antimony to rice plant: Effects on root exudates, cell wall components, endogenous hormones and antioxidant system.

Antimony (Sb) is a toxic element for both human and plants, but the toxic responses of plants to different forms of antimony and the associated mechanisms are unknown. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of different forms of Sb [Sb(III) and Sb(V)] on the root exudates, root endogenous hormones, root cell wall components and antioxidant systems in rice plant via three hydroponic experiments. The results showed that Sb(III) displayed a higher toxicity than Sb(V) to the plant which accumulated much more Sb in its tissues under Sb(III) exposure than that under Sb(V) exposure.

ArsM-mediated arsenite volatilization is limited by efflux catalyzed by As efflux transporters.

Arsenic (As) methylation is regarded as an efficient strategy for As contamination remediation by As volatilization. However, most microorganisms display low As volatilization efficiency, which is possibly linked to As efflux transporters competing for cytoplasmic As(III) as a substrate. Here, we developed two types of As biosensors in Escherichia coli to compare the As efflux rate of three efflux transporters and to further investigate the correlation between As efflux rates and As volatilization.

Genomic Islands Confer Heavy Metal Resistance in and Isolated from a Gold/Copper Mine.

Heavy metals (HMs) are compounds that can be hazardous and impair growth of living organisms. Bacteria have evolved the capability not only to cope with heavy metals but also to detoxify polluted environments. Three heavy metal-resistant strains of and one of were isolated from the gold/copper Zijin mining site, Longyan, Fujian, China.