A gel electrophoresis assay for phytochelatins

✍ Scribed by Susan L. Abrahamson; David M. Speiser; David W. Ow

• Book ID: 102988866
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 871 KB
• Volume: 200
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-2697
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-2697(92)90459-k

✦ Synopsis

Phytochelatins are metal-binding peptides produced by higher plants and some fungi in response to heavy metal exposure. Established methods for analyzing cell-free extracts for the presence of phytochelatins include gel-filtration chromatography and HPLC. We have developed a nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay for phytochelatins that combines a small sample size with detection via metal binding. This assay can be used for the measurement of the relative affinity of phytochelatins for a variety of metal and semimetal ions.