A Coordination-Chemical Basis for the Biological Function of the Phytochelatins

Jens Johanning, Henry Strasdeit

Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 1998 · 70 citations · 0 references

Abstract

To fix toxic heavy-metal ions, plants synthesize the ligands (γ-Glu-Cys)<sub>n</sub> -Gly (PC<sub>n</sub> ), whose simplest representative is the pentapeptide PC<sub>2</sub> . The knowledge of the composition and stabilities of the cadmium complexes of PC<sub>2</sub> allow a better understanding of biological processes like the one outlined.