| Summary: | Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic heavy metals for plant growth in soil. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters play important roles in biotic and abiotic stresses. However, few ABC transporters have been characterized in poplar. In this study, we isolated an ABC transporter gene <i>PtoABCG36</i> from <i>Populus tomentosa</i>. The <i>PtoABCG36</i> transcript can be detected in leaves, stems and roots, and the expression in the root was 3.8 and 2 times that in stems and leaves, respectively. The <i>PtoABCG36</i> expression was induced and peaked at 12 h after exposure to Cd stress. Transient expression of <i>PtoABCG36</i> in tobacco showed that PtoABCG36 is localized at the plasma membrane. When overexpressed in yeast and Arabidopsis, PtoABCG36 could decrease Cd accumulation and confer higher Cd tolerance in transgenic lines than in wild-type (WT) lines. Net Cd<sup>2+</sup> efflux measurements showed a decreasing Cd uptake in transgenic Arabidopsis roots than WT. These results demonstrated that PtoABCG36 functions as a cadmium extrusion pump participating in enhancing tolerance to Cd through decreasing Cd content in plants, which provides a promising way for making heavy metal tolerant poplar by manipulating ABC transporters in cadmium polluted areas.
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