Correlation of PCB transformation by plant tissue cultures with their morphology and peroxidase activity changes

The ability of plant cells cultivated in vitro to metabolize polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was correlated with the morphology of the cultures tested as models for phytoremediation studies. More differentiated cultures showed generally higher transformation capacity. The ability of plant cells to transform PCBs is connected to their viability in the presence of PCBs and their behaviour can be positively correlated with the production of intracellular and extracellular peroxidases. The cultures with high PCB-transforming activity proved to exhibit high peroxidase activity in the presence of PCBs while those with low ability to metabolize PCB showed a decrease of the enzyme activity in the presence of PCBs. Experiments with propylgallate were used to distinguish the ratio of involvement of peroxidases in PCB metabolism.