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A gel electrophoresis assay for phytochelatins
S L Abrahamson1, D M Speiser, D W Ow
1USDA/ARS Plant Gene Expression Center, Albany, California 94710.
Analytical Biochemistry
|February 1, 1992
Abstract:
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.