Klatte Marco, Schuler Mara, Wirtz Markus, Fink-Straube Claudia, Hell Rüdiger, Bauer Petra
Department of Biosciences-Botany, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
Plant Physiol. 2009 May;150(1):257-71. doi: 10.1104/pp.109.136374. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
Nicotianamine chelates and transports micronutrient metal ions in plants. It has been speculated that nicotianamine is involved in seed loading with micronutrients. A tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) mutant (chloronerva) and a tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) transgenic line have been utilized to analyze the effects of nicotianamine loss. These mutants showed early leaf chlorosis and had sterile flowers. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) has four NICOTIANAMINE SYNTHASE (NAS) genes. We constructed two quadruple nas mutants: one had full loss of NAS function, was sterile, and showed a chloronerva-like phenotype (nas4x-2); another mutant, with intermediate phenotype (nas4x-1), developed chlorotic leaves, which became severe upon transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase and upon iron (Fe) deficiency. Residual nicotianamine levels were sufficient to sustain the life cycle. Therefore, the nas4x-1 mutant enabled us to study late nicotianamine functions. This mutant had no detectable nicotianamine in rosette leaves of the reproductive stage but low nicotianamine levels in vegetative rosette leaves and seeds. Fe accumulated in the rosette leaves, while less Fe was present in flowers and seeds. Leaves, roots, and flowers showed symptoms of Fe deficiency, whereas leaves also showed signs of sufficient Fe supply, as revealed by molecular-physiological analysis. The mutant was not able to fully mobilize Fe to sustain Fe supply of flowers and seeds in the normal way. Thus, nicotianamine is needed for correct supply of seeds with Fe. These results are fundamental for plant manipulation approaches to modify Fe homeostasis regulation through alterations of NAS genes.
烟酰胺在植物中螯合并运输微量营养金属离子。据推测,烟酰胺参与了微量营养元素向种子的装载过程。利用番茄(Solanum lycopersicum)突变体(chloronerva)和烟草(Nicotiana tabacum)转基因系来分析烟酰胺缺失的影响。这些突变体表现出早期叶片黄化且花朵不育。拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)有四个烟酰胺合酶(NAS)基因。我们构建了两个NAS四突变体:一个完全丧失NAS功能,不育,并表现出类似chloronerva的表型(nas4x - 2);另一个突变体具有中间表型(nas4x - 1),发育出黄化叶片,在从营养生长阶段过渡到生殖阶段以及缺铁时症状会加重。残留的烟酰胺水平足以维持生命周期。因此,nas4x - 1突变体使我们能够研究烟酰胺的后期功能。该突变体在生殖阶段的莲座叶中未检测到烟酰胺,但在营养莲座叶和种子中的烟酰胺水平较低。铁在莲座叶中积累,而在花和种子中的铁含量较少。叶片、根和花表现出缺铁症状,而分子生理分析表明叶片也有铁供应充足的迹象。该突变体无法以正常方式充分调动铁来维持花和种子的铁供应。因此,烟酰胺是种子正确获取铁所必需的。这些结果对于通过改变NAS基因来调控铁稳态的植物操作方法具有重要意义。