Blue means bad

Abstract

Transgenic plants can now detect toxic metals in contaminated soils [Nat. Biotechnol. (2001) 19, 568–572; Trends Plant Sci. (2001) 6, 306–310]. Olga Kovalchuk and colleagues designed genetically engineered plants that contain a GUS reporter gene, which generates blue spots when the marker gene undergoes base pair mutation or homologous recombination. The study shows that in a laboratory setting, transgenic Arabidopsis plants detect increased levels of mutation and recombination in the presence of heavy metals. Mutation rates depend on the concentration and uptake of the heavy metals. The researchers also planted the metal-sniffing plants on contaminated soil near an oil refinery and showed a significant increase in mutation and recombination. TS