Molecular breeding for controlling long-distance transport of toxic and nutritional elements in plants

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14873
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant nutrition/Soil science
• Research Institution: Kitasato University
• Principal Investigator: Uraguchi Shimpei 北里大学, 薬学部, 講師 (20638837)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NOZAWA Akira 愛媛大学, プロテオサイエンスセンター, 講師 (30432800) ; SONE Yuka 北里大学, 薬学部, 助教 (60550035)
• Research Collaborator: Clemens Stephan University of Bayreuth, Department of Plant Physiology, Professor
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 有害元素 / 長距離輸送 / リガンド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plant-derived foods are major sources of essential minerals like zinc as well as of toxic elements such as arsenic and cadmium. Previous studies demonstrated that expression or functional modification of several transporters responsible for arsenic or cadmium transport lead to reduction of respective element accumulation in edible parts of plants. However, such approaches possess a risk of disturbing plant nutritional homeostasis, development and/or environmental stress responses. In this study, we focused on a heavy metal binding ligand called phytochelatin (PC) and its synthases (PCS) aiming to achieve reduction of toxic element accumulation with minimized effects on mineral nutrition transport. We identified amino acid regions crucial for arsenite-specific responses of PCS in Arabidopsis. We also revealed significant roles of PCS in maintaining zinc homeostasis under arsenite stress conditions.

Free Research Field

植物分子生理学