Phytochelatin is not a primary factor in determining copper tolerance

Phytochelatin (PC) is involved in the detoxification of harmful, non-essential heavy metals and the homeostasis of essential heavy metals in plants. Its synthesis can be induced by either cadmium (Cd) or copper (Cu), and can form stable complexes with either element. This might suggest that PC has an important role in determining plant tolerance to both. However, this is not clearly apparent, as evidenced by a PC-deficient and Cd-sensitive Arabidopsis mutant (cad1-3) that shows no significant increase in its sensitivity to copper. Therefore, we investigated whether the mechanism for Cu tolerance differed from that for Cd by analyzing copper sensitivity in Cd-tolerant transgenics and Cd-sensitive mutants of Arabidopsis. Cadmium-tolerant transgenic plants that over-expressed A. thaliana phytochelatin synthase 1 (AtPCS1) were not tolerant of copper stress, thereby supporting the hypothesis that PC is not primarily involved in this tolerance mechanism. We also investigated Cu tolerance in cad2-1, a Cd-sensitive and glutathione (GSH)-deficient Arabidopsis mutant. Paradoxically, cad2-1 was more resistant to copper stress than were wild-type plants. This was likely due to the high level of cysteine present in that mutant. However, when the growth medium was supplemented with cysteine, the wild types also exhibited copper tolerance. Moreover, Saccharomyces cerevisiae that expressed AtPCS1 showed tolerance to Cd but hypersensitivity to Cu. All these results indicate that PC is not a major factor in determining copper tolerance in plants.