Identification and Functional Annotation of Echium plantagineum Metallothioneins for Reduction in Heavy Metals in Soil Using Molecular Docking

Heavy metal contamination in soil poses a significant environmental challenge globally, affecting agricultural productivity and human health. Phytoremediation, using plants to extract and detoxify heavy metals, presents a promising solution. This study investigates the novel potential of Echium plantagineum, a metal-tolerant species, in phytostabilization and phytoremediation and explores the role of metallothioneins in heavy metal reduction. A comprehensive literature review identified known metallothioneins involved in heavy metal reduction across various plant species. Moreover, genome annotation and gene prediction of Echium plantagineum were performed, predicting a total of 39,520 proteins. This comprehensive protein list facilitates the identification of metallothioneins or other metal-related proteins with potential functional roles in heavy metal tolerance, suggesting new targets to improve the effectiveness of phytoremediation. The sequences of these proteins were utilized to construct a protein BLAST database, against which known metallothioneins protein sequences from other plant species were subjected to BLAST searches, resulting in 41 top hits. Subsequent 3D modeling, structural analysis, protein-metal virtual screening, and functional annotation of the proteins revealed novel high affinities of Ctr copper transporter, zinc/iron permease, and nicotianamine synthase proteins with nickel, zinc, and zinc ion, suggesting their unexplored roles in the uptake of aforementioned ligands. Notably, this study identifies novel metallothioneins proteins in Echium plantagineum, highlighting their role in metal tolerance and phytoremediation.