Environ. Sci.

Bioremediation

 

Heavy metal pollution and its treatments

Specific Use

• Heavy metal pollution monitoring
• Heavy metal enrichment mechanism
• Heavy metal pollution control
• Plant heavy metal tolerance mechanism
• Screening of heavy metals is highly efficient in order to enrich plant varieties

 

Some organisms, especially some plants have developed a mechanism heavy metal tolerance, by which heavy metals (such as of Cd^{2 +}) enrich their organelles, which provides the possibility for the bioremediation of heavy metal pollution.

Most of the animals, however, are very sensitive to the presence of heavy metals, which cause significant changes to their respiration processes. Therefore, NMT, which can directly measure Cd²⁺, H⁺, and O₂ with living samples, is an ideal tool to study the mechanisms of heavy metal absorption and regulations.

 

Examples:

The intestinal and Malpighi tube play an important role in the chironomid larvae Cd²⁺ transport and absorption process

(1) Leonard EM,et al. Aquatic Toxicology. 2009, 92: 179-186.

(Use with permission)

 

 

 

Bio-Green-Energy

Single-cell, real-time measurements of extracellular oxygen and proton fluxes from Spirogyra grevilleana

NMT is sensitive enough to measure oxygen fluxes around single cells. Porterfield and Smith et al. have characterized oxygen and proton fluxes from a single cell of the filamentous green alga Spirogyra gre illeana (Hass.).

Oxygen showed a net efflux and protons showed a net influx when the cell was illuminated. These photosynthesis-dependent fluxes were found to be spatially associated with the chloroplasts and were sensitive to treatment with dichlorophenyldimethylurea. In the dark the directions of oxygen and proton fuxes were reversed. This oxygen influx was associated with mitochondrial respiration and was reduced by 78% when the cells was treated with 0.5 mM KCN. The residual cyanide-resistant respiration was inhibited by the application of 5 mM salicylhydroxamic acid, an inhibitor of the alternative oxidase. Similarly the cytochrome pathway was also inhibited by the presence of 20 uM NO, while the cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase was not.

These results demonstrate the use of the NMT system to measure and characterize metabolic fluxes at a level of sensitivity that allows for subcellular resolution.

 

 

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation

Specific Use

• Heavy metal pollution monitoring
• Heavy metal enrichment mechanism
• Heavy metal pollution control
• Plant heavy metal tolerance mechanism
• Screening of heavy metals is highly efficient in order to enrich plant varieties

 

Some organisms, especially some plants have developed a mechanism heavy metal tolerance, by which heavy metals (such as of Cd^2 +) enrich their organelles, which provides the possibility for the bioremediation of heavy metal pollution.

Most of the animals, however, are very sensitive to the presence of heavy metals, which cause significant changes to their respiration processes. Therefore, NMT, which can directly measure Cd²⁺, H⁺, and O₂ with living samples, is an ideal tool to study the mechanisms of heavy metal absorption and regulations.

 

Examples:

Pattern of Cd²⁺ enrichment in wheat roots

Piñeros MA,et al. Plant Physiology. 1998, 116:1393–1401.

(Use with permission)