The OsNRAMP1 iron transporter is involved in Cd accumulation in rice.
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ABSTRACT: Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal toxic to humans and the accumulation of Cd in the rice grain is a major agricultural problem, particularly in Asia. The role of the iron transporter OsNRAMP1 in Cd uptake and transport in rice was investigated here. An OsNRAMP1:GFP fusion protein was localized to the plasma membrane in onion epidermal cells. The growth of yeast expressing OsNRAMP1 was impaired in the presence of Cd compared with yeast transformed with an empty vector. Moreover, the Cd content of OsNRAMP1-expressing yeast exceeded that of the vector control. The expression of OsNRAMP1 in the roots was higher in a high Cd-accumulating cultivar (Habataki) than a low Cd-accumulating cultivar (Sasanishiki) regardless of the presence of Cd, and the amino acid sequence of OsNRAMP1 showed 100% identity between Sasanishiki and Habataki. Over-expression of OsNRAMP1 in rice increased Cd accumulation in the leaves. These results suggest that OsNRAMP1 participates in cellular Cd uptake and Cd transport within plants, and the higher expression of OsNRAMP1 in the roots could lead to an increase in Cd accumulation in the shoots. Our results indicated that OsNRAMP1 is an important protein in high-level Cd accumulation in rice.
Project description:Excessive cadmium (Cd) accumulation in grains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a risk to food security. The transporters in the nodes of rice are involved in the distribution of mineral elements including toxic elements to different tissues such as grains. However, the mechanism of Cd accumulation in grains is largely unknown. Here, we report a node-expressed transporter gene, OsCCX2, a putative cation/calcium (Ca) exchanger, mediating Cd accumulation in the grains of rice. Knockout of OsCCX2 caused a remarkable reduction of Cd content in the grains. Further study showed that disruption of this gene led to a reduced root-to-shoot translocation ratio of Cd. Moreover, Cd distribution was also disturbed in different levels of internode and leaf. OsCCX2 is localized to plasma membrane, and OsCCX2 is mainly expressed in xylem region of vascular tissues at the nodes. OsCCX2 might function as an efflux transporter, responsible for Cd loading into xylem vessels. Therefore, our finding revealed a novel Cd transporter involved in grain Cd accumulation, possibly via a Ca transport pathway in the nodes of rice.
Project description:BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional disorders in plants, especially in fruit trees grown in calcareous soil. Malus baccata is widely used as an apple rootstock in north China and is highly resistant to low temperatures. There are few studies on iron absorption by this species at the molecular level. It is very important to understand the mechanism of iron uptake and transport in such woody plants. As a helpful tool, the aim of the present study was the cloning and functional analysis of NRAMP (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein) genes from the apple tree in relation to trafficking of micronutrients (Fe, Mn and Cd). METHODS: Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) combined with RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) was adopted to isolate the full-length NRAMP1 cDNA. Southern blotting was used to test gene copy information, and northern blot was used to detect the gene's expression level. Complementation experiments using the yeast mutant strains DEY1453 and SLY8 were employed to confirm the iron- and manganese-transporting ability of NRAMP1 from apple, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry was used to measure Cd accumulation in yeast. NRAMP1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein was used to determine the cellular localization in yeast. KEY RESULTS: A 2090 bp cDNA was isolated and named MbNRAMP1. It encodes a predicted polypeptide of 551 amino acids. MbNRAMP1 exists in the M. baccata genome as a single copy and was expressed mainly in roots. MbNRAMP1 rescued the phenotype of yeast mutant strains DEY1453 and SLY8, and also increased Cd2+ sensitivity and accumulation. MbNRAMP1 expression in yeast was largely influenced by iron status, and the expression pattern of MbNRAMP1-GFP varied with the environmental iron nutrition status. CONCLUSIONS: MbNRAMP1 encodes a functional metal transporter capable of mediating the distribution of ions as well as transport of the micronutrients, Fe and Mn, and the toxic metal, Cd.
Project description:OsNramp5 is a key gene involved in the control of the uptake of Cd, Mn, and other metal ions by rice root cells. The functional deficiency of this gene can significantly reduce the accumulation of Cd in rice grains, but the effects of its mutation on agronomic traits such as yield and quality have not been investigated comprehensively yet. In the present study, three Huanghuazhan-based OsNramp5 mutants [LCH1 (Low Cadmium Huanghuazhan 1), LCH2 (Low Cadmium Huanghuazhan 2), and LCH3 (Low Cadmium Huanghuazhan 3)] were obtained using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) technology. The mutation-type analysis showed that LCH1, LCH2, and LCH3 encoded defective OsNramp5 protein sequences containing only 76aa, 176aa, and 266aa, respectively. The determination of metal content and the statistics of related agronomic traits revealed that the functionally deficient OsNramp5 not only significantly reduced the accumulation of Cd in the grains of the mutants but also affected rice yield and quality. However, with the decrease of OsNramp5 mutation degree, its effects on chlorenchyma Mn accumulation, yield, and quality were also diminished. Additionally, we also found that the increase in the concentration of Mn in the soil restored the phenotype of the declined yield and quality due to the functional deficiency of OsNramp5. Our findings provide novel insights into and new materials for breeding rice varieties with low Cd accumulation and excellent agronomic traits under severe Cd pollution environment.
Project description:Peanut/maize intercropping is a sustainable and effective agroecosystem to alleviate iron-deficiency chlorosis. Using suppression subtractive hybridization from the roots of intercropped and monocropped peanut which show different iron nutrition levels, a peanut gene, AhNRAMP1, which belongs to divalent metal transporters of the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (NRAMP) gene family was isolated. Yeast complementation assays suggested that AhNRAMP1 encodes a functional iron transporter. Moreover, the mRNA level of AhNRAMP1 was obviously induced by iron deficiency in both roots and leaves. Transient expression, laser microdissection, and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that AhNRAMP1 was mainly localized on the plasma membrane of the epidermis of peanut roots. Induced expression of AhNRAMP1 in tobacco conferred enhanced tolerance to iron deprivation. These results suggest that the AhNRAMP1 is possibly involved in iron acquisition in peanut plants.
Project description:Silicon (Si) alleviates cadmium (Cd) toxicity and accumulation in a number of plant species, but the exact molecular mechanisms responsible for this effect are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of Si on Cd toxicity and accumulation in rice (Oryza sativa) by using two mutants (lsi1 and lsi2) defective in Si uptake and their wild types (WTs). Root elongation was decreased with increasing external Cd concentrations in both WTs and mutants, but Si did not show an alleviative effect on Cd toxicity in all lines. By contrast, the Cd concentration in both the shoots and roots was decreased by Si in the WTs, but not in the mutants. Furthermore, Si supply resulted in a decreased Cd concentration in the root cell sap and xylem sap in the WTs, but not in the mutants. Pre-treatment with Si also decreased Cd accumulation in the WTs, but not in the mutants. Silicon slightly decreased Cd accumulation in the cell wall of the roots. The expression level of OsNramp5 and OsHMA2 was down-regulated by Si in the WTs, but not in the mutants. These results indicate that the Si-decreased Cd accumulation was caused by down-regulating transporter genes involved in Cd uptake and translocation in rice.
Project description:Cadmium (Cd), a heavy metal toxic to humans, easily accumulates in rice grains. Rice with unacceptable Cd content has become a serious food safety problem in many rice production regions due to contaminations by industrialization and inappropriate waste management. The development of rice varieties with low grain Cd content is seen as an economic and long-term solution of this problem. The cation/H+ exchanger (CAX) family has been shown to play important roles in Cd uptake, transport and accumulation in plants. Here, we report the characterization of the rice CAX family. The six rice CAX genes all have homologous genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phylogenetic analysis identified two subfamilies with three rice and three Arabidopsis thaliana genes in both of them. All rice CAX genes have trans-member structures. OsCAX1a and OsCAX1c were localized in the vacuolar while OsCAX4 were localized in the plasma membrane in rice cell. The consequences of qRT-PCR analysis showed that all the six genes strongly expressed in the leaves under the different Cd treatments. Their expression in roots increased in a Cd dose-dependent manner. GUS staining assay showed that all the six rice CAX genes strongly expressed in roots, whereas OsCAX1c and OsCAX4 also strongly expressed in rice leaves. The yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells expressing OsCAX1a, OsCAX1c and OsCAX4 grew better than those expressing the vector control on SD-Gal medium containing CdCl2. OsCAX1a and OsCAX1c enhanced while OsCAX4 reduced Cd accumulation in yeast. No auto-inhibition was found for all the rice CAX genes. Therefore, OsCAX1a, OsCAX1c and OsCAX4 are likely to involve in Cd uptake and translocation in rice, which need to be further validated.
Project description:As a member of the heavy metal ATPase (HMA) family, OsHMA3 is a tonoplast-localized transporter for Cd in the roots of rice (Oryza sativa). Overexpression of OsHMA3 selectively reduces Cd accumulation in the grain. Further characterization in the present study revealed that overexpression of OsHMA3 also enhances the tolerance to toxic Cd. The growth of both the roots and shoots was similar in the absence of Cd between an OsHMA3-overexpressed line and vector control, but the Cd-inhibited growth was significantly alleviated in the OsHMA3-overexpressed line. The overexpressed line showed higher Cd concentration in the roots, but lower Cd concentration in the shoots compared with the wild-type rice and vector control line, indicating that overexpression of OsHMA3 enhanced vacuolar sequestration of Cd in the roots. The Zn concentration in the roots of the OsHMA3-overexpressed line was constantly higher than that of vector control, but the Zn concentration in the shoots was similar between the overexpressed line and vector control. Five transporter genes belonging to the ZIP family were constitutively up-regulated in the OsHMA3-overexpressed line. These results suggest that shoot Zn level was maintained by up-regulating these genes involved in the Zn uptake/translocation. Taken together, overexpression of OsHMA3 is an efficient way to reduce Cd accumulation in the grain and to enhance Cd tolerance in rice.
Project description:The uptake and transport of iron (Fe) in plants are both important for plant growth and human health. However, little is known about the mechanism of Fe transport in plants, especially for crops. In the present study, the function of yellow stripe-like 13 (YSL13) in rice was analyzed. OsYSL13 was highly expressed in leaves, especially in leaf blades, whereas its expression was induced by Fe deficiency both in roots and shoots. Furthermore, the expression level of OsYSL13 was higher in older leaves than that in younger leaves. OsYSL13 was located in the plasma membrane. Metal measurement revealed that Fe concentrations were lower in the youngest leaf and higher in the older leaves of the osysl13 mutant under both Fe sufficiency and deficiency conditions, compared with the wild type and two complementation lines. Moreover, the Fe concentrations in the brown rice and seeds of the osysl13 mutant were also reduced. Opposite results were found in OsYSL13 overexpression lines. These results suggest that OsYSL13 is involved in Fe distribution in rice.
Project description:Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic element, and rice is known to be a leading source of dietary Cd for people who consume rice as their main caloric resource. Hybrid rice has dominated rice production in southern China and has been adopted worldwide. The characteristics of high yield heterosis of rice hybrids makes the public think intuitively that the hybrid rice accumulates more Cd in grain than do inbred cultivars. A detailed understanding of the genetic basis of grain Cd accumulation in hybrids and developing Cd-safe rice are one of the top priorities for hybrid rice breeders at present. In this study, we investigated genetic diversity and grain Cd levels in 617 elite rice hybrids collected from the middle and lower Yangtze River Valley in China and 68 inbred cultivars from around the world. We found that there are large variations in grain Cd accumulation in both the hybrids and their inbred counterparts. However, we found grain Cd levels in the rice hybrids to be similar to the levels in indica rice inbreds, suggesting that the hybrids do not accumulate more Cd than do the inbred rice cultivars. Further analysis revealed that the high heritability of Cd accumulation in the grain and the single indica population structure increases the risk of Cd over-accumulation in hybrid rice. The genetic effects of Cd-related QTLs, which have been identified in related Cd-QTL mapping studies, were also determined in the hybrid rice population. Four QTLs were identified as being associated with the variation in grain Cd levels; three of these loci exhibited obvious indica-japonica differentiations. Our study will provide a better understanding of grain Cd accumulations in hybrid rice, and pave the way toward effective breeding for high-yielding, low grain-Cd hybrids in the future.
Project description:In plants, iron (Fe) is essential for mitochondrial electron transport, heme, and Fe-Sulphur (Fe-S) cluster synthesis; however, plant mitochondrial Fe transporters have not been identified. Here we show, identify and characterize the rice mitochondrial Fe transporter (MIT). Based on a transfer DNA library screen, we identified a rice line showing symptoms of Fe deficiency while accumulating high shoot levels of Fe. Homozygous knockout of MIT in this line resulted in a lethal phenotype. MIT localized to the mitochondria and complemented the growth of ?mrs3?mrs4 yeast defective in mitochondrial Fe transport. The growth of MIT-knockdown (mit-2) plants was also significantly impaired despite abundant Fe accumulation. Further, the decrease in the activity of the mitochondrial and cytosolic Fe-S enzyme, aconitase, indicated that Fe-S cluster synthesis is affected in mit-2 plants. These results indicate that MIT is a mitochondrial Fe transporter essential for rice growth and development.