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Mushrooms from two metal-contaminated areas in Norway: occurrence of metals and metallothionein-like proteins

¹ Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway(e-mail: COLLIN-HANSEN{at}CHEMBIO.NTNU.NO)
² Norwegian Institute for Air Research, NILU, P.O. Box 100, N-2007 Kjeller, Norway
³ Department of Zoology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

This study tested the hypothesis that concentrations of metallothionein-like (MT-like) proteins in fruiting bodies of wild-growing macrofungi reflect exposure to the metals Cd, Cu and Zn. Screening for these proteins was done by taking 44 samples of seven species of macrofungi from two metal-polluted areas in Norway, namely Odda and Sulitjelma. Concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn were measured in fruiting bodies and topsoil, the highest of which were observed in fruiting bodies – 126 µg g^–1 for Cd, 427 µg g^–1 for Cu and 396 µg g^–1 for Zn. A large intra- and inter-specific heterogeneity in metal uptake was displayed between fruiting bodies from the same soils. Cd,Zn–MT-like proteins were detected in all samples, except one stipe of Boletus edulis, whereas only 72% of the samples contained detectable levels of Cu–MT-like proteins. However, concentrations of MT-like proteins did not reflect variations in metal concentrations. Low content of cysteine in Cd-binding protein fractions from Amanita muscaria collected in Odda indicates that no proteins of the metallothionein family were present in this species. Onthe contrary, these protein fractions share several characteristics with cadmium–mycophosphatins.

KEYWORDS: fungi, cadmium, copper, zinc, metallothionein

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Collin-Hansen, R. A. Andersen, and E. Steinnes Molecular defense systems are expressed in the king bolete (Boletus edulis) growing near metal smelters. Mycologia, September 1, 2005; 97(5): 973 - 983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]