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Characterization of Technetium Species Induced in Spinach
Author(s) -
Harms A. V.,
Krijger G. C.,
Elteren J. T.,
Goeij J. J. M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1999.00472425002800040020x
Subject(s) - spinach , spinacia , chemistry , chromatography , diethyl ether , ammonium , column chromatography , acetone , size exclusion chromatography , extraction (chemistry) , botany , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry , enzyme , chloroplast , gene
Plants have the ability to accumulate the long‐lived fission product 99 Tc. In this work, an attempt was made to separate and characterize technetium species induced by spinach plants ( Spinacia oleracea L.) grown on a TcO − 4 containing nutrient solution. Combination of data obtained with selective extraction (ammonium sulfate, acetone, diethyl ether, and 8‐hydroxyquinoline in chloroform) and chromatography (size‐exclusion chromatography and reversed‐phase ion‐pair chromatography) gave us insight into Tc speciation in spinach plants. The following classes of Tc species in spinach leaf homogenate were found after an incubation period of 11 d: TcO − 4 (ca. 7%), Tc V ‐cysteine (ca. 25%), Tc bound to insoluble cell‐wall polysaccharides (ca. 17%), Tc bound to proteins (ca. 26%), and hydrophilic non‐protein Tc species (ca. 25%). These results may yield a new insight into the metabolic pathways of Tc in plants.