Van Aken Benoit
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
Trends Biotechnol. 2008 May;26(5):225-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2008.02.001. Epub 2008 Mar 18.
Phytoremediation is the use of plants to clean up environmental pollution. However, detoxification of organic pollutants by plants is often slow, leading to the accumulation of toxic compounds that could be later released into the environment. A recent publication by Doty and colleagues describes the development of transgenic poplars (Populus) overexpressing a mammalian cytochrome P450, a family of enzymes commonly involved in the metabolism of toxic compounds. The engineered plants showed enhanced performance with regards to the metabolism of trichloroethylene and the removal of a range of other toxic volatile organic pollutants, including vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and benzene. This work suggests that transgenic plants might be able to contribute to the wider and safer application of phytoremediation.
植物修复是利用植物来清理环境污染。然而，植物对有机污染物的解毒作用通常较为缓慢，会导致有毒化合物的积累，这些化合物随后可能会释放到环境中。多蒂及其同事最近发表的一篇论文描述了过表达一种哺乳动物细胞色素P450的转基因杨树（胡杨属）的培育情况，细胞色素P450是一类通常参与有毒化合物代谢的酶。这些经过基因工程改造的植物在三氯乙烯的代谢以及包括氯乙烯、四氯化碳、氯仿和苯在内的一系列其他有毒挥发性有机污染物的去除方面表现出了更强的性能。这项研究表明，转基因植物可能有助于植物修复更广泛、更安全地应用。
