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#Unit 12. Applied Biology
Phytovolatilization
Plants remove inorganic contaminants· either by contaminant volatilization or by metal accumulation.
Volatalization is useful for the removal of mercury. A bacterial mercuric ion reductase has been transferred to Arabidopsis thaliana; this transgenic plant absorbs mercury, and reduces it to volatile Hg0, which volatilizes from the leaf surface.