Elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying inhibitory effects of glutathione on cadmium translocation and accumulation in plants

人们对食品安全的日益关注使得建立一种新的技术来降低农作物中有害的重金属元素镉(Cd)成为一个紧迫的问题。在我们的研究中，我们发现应用于植物根部的谷胱甘肽(GSH)可以抑制Cd从根到地上的转运和Cd在地上的积累。通过应用这一现象，并开展一些实用研究，有望建立一种新的栽培技术。在本研究中，我们试图阐明这种现象的分子机制。我们发现，造成这种现象的原因之一是谷胱甘肽作用于根，激活了根中镉的外流。

Growing interests in food safety make it an urgent issue to establish a new technique to reduce cadmium (Cd), which is one of harmful heavy metal elements, in crop plants. In our research, we found that glutathione (GSH), which was applied to plant roots site-specifically, inhibited Cd translocation from roots to shoots and Cd accumulation in their shoots. It is expected to establish a novel cultivation technique by applying this phenomenon and carrying out some research for practical use. In this research, we tried to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon. We found one of the causes for this phenomenon was that glutathione, applied to roots, activated Cd efflux from their roots.