Plant natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (Nramp) families play an important role in tolerance of heavy metal stress.In this study, we cloned and identified the SaNramp6 gene from the heavy metal-hyperaccumulating plant Sedum alfredii and analyzed its function in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana.The 1638-bp cDNA for SaNramp6 encodes 545 amino acids.SaNramp6 was strongly expressed in roots and leaves, and its transcription of root increased in response to Cd stress,with expression reaching a maximum in roots 1 week after treatment.SaNramp6 fused to green fluorescent protein was localized to the plasma membrane in both Nicotiana benthamiana lower leaf epidermal cells and onion (Allium cepa) epidermal cells.Transgenic A.thaliana expressing SaNramp6 exhibited higher Cd toxicity as compared with the control, with higher cadmium concentration, MDA content, electrolyte leakage and antioxidant enzyme activity, as well as lower chlorophyll content under Cd stress.DAB and NBT staining also indicated that the transgenic plants accumulate more reactive oxygen species compared to the control when exposed to CdCl2.Overall,these results suggest that overexpression of SaNramp6 plays a significant role in improving the cadmium accumulation, and the gene may be useful for the biotechnological development of transgenic plants to phytoremediate soil contaminated with heavy metals.