Phytochelatins are the main heavy metal detoxifying peptides found in plants. In the present study, Escherichia coli DH5α cells were transformed with the phytochelatin synthase gene from Rhizobium tropici. The tolerance of these recombinant bacterial cells to heavy metals as well as their capacity to synthesize selenium nanoparticles were explored. The functional studies showed the recombinant E. coli grew faster and achieved a higher cell density after overnight cultivation in comparison with the control cells. In addition, the recombinant E. coli had a higher tolerance to copper, nickel, zinc, and cadmium ions. Importantly, the cells had increased capacity to synthesize selenium nanoparticles. Our results suggested that the phytochelatin synthase gene transformed E. coli DH5α cells can be used to produce selenium nanoparticles in large scale for various applications in nanotechnology and biomedicine.

植物螯合素是植物中发现的主要重金属排毒肽。在本研究中，用来自热带根瘤菌的植物螯合素合酶基因转化了大肠杆菌DH5α细胞。探索了这些重组细菌细胞对重金属的耐受性及其合成硒纳米颗粒的能力。功能研究表明，与对照细胞相比，过夜培养后重组大肠杆菌生长更快，细胞密度更高。另外，重组大肠杆菌对铜，镍，锌和镉离子具有较高的耐受性。重要的是，细胞具有更高的合成硒纳米颗粒的能力。我们的结果表明，植物螯合素合酶基因转化的大肠杆菌DH5α细胞可用于大规模生产硒纳米颗粒，用于纳米技术和生物医学中的各种应用。