Apples for Health- Hybrid poplar trees to absorb contaminants

Hybrid poplar trees to absorb contaminants

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers want to plant poplar trees at a former oil storage facility to see if the trees can turn contaminants into harmless byproducts.

Purdue University researchers said a recent a study found that transgenic poplar cuttings absorbed 90 percent of trichloroethylene within a hydroponic solution in one week. The engineered trees also took up and metabolized the chemical 100 times faster than unaltered hybrid poplars.

The transgenic poplars contain an inserted gene that encodes an enzyme capable of breaking down TCE and other environmental pollutants such as chloroform, benzene, vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride, the university said Thursday in a release.

Purdue's Richard Meilan said the transgenic poplars should be able to remove the TCE from Peter's Pond near Kokomo, Ind., which was contaminated by tainted oil stored there in the 1960s. TCE, the most common groundwater pollutant on Superfund sites, is a probable human carcinogen and causes various health problems when present in sufficiently high levels in water or air, the report said.

Meilan said he has applied for a permit to grow transgenic poplars in a field, or non-laboratory, setting from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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