Accumulation of Nickel in Transgenic Tobacco

The accumulation of heavy metal Ni in the roots and leaves of four T1 transgenic lines of tobacco (T(1)20E, T(1)24C, T(1)18B1 and T(1)20B) expressing eiMT1 from E.indica was assessed. The aim of the study was to investigate the level of Ni accumulation in the leaves and roots of each transgenic lines and to evaluate the eligibility of the plants to be classified as a phytoremediation agent. All of the transgenic lines showed different ability in accumulating different metals and has translocation factor (TF) less than 1 (TF<1) at all levels of metal treatment. Among the 4 transgenic lines, transgenic line T(1)24C showed the highest accumulation of Ni (251.9 +/- 0.014 mg/kg) and the lowest TF value (TFT(1)24C=0.0875) at 60 ppm Ni.