Isolation and Partial Purification of Cadmium-Binding Protein from Roots of the Grass Agrostis gigantea

A cadmium-binding protein was isolated from roots of the grass Agrostis gigantea Roth. Heat-stable proteins were chromatographed on the anion exchanger QAE-Sephadex A-25. The major cadmium fraction was purified further by gel filtration on Sephadex G-75 in 1 molar KCl buffer. The resulting protein preparation was light brown, had an apparent molecular weight of 3700, contained 29% cysteine and close to 4 gram atoms cadmium/mole. The cadmium:cysteine ratio was 1:2.7. Spectroscopic measurements indicated cadmium-thiolate coordination. The roots produced the metallothionein-like protein when they were exposed to cadmium for 7 days.