Membrane protein interactions between different Arabidopsis thaliana MRS2-type magnesium transporters are highly permissive.

Membrane proteins of the Arabidopsis thaliana MRS2 (MGT) family have been characterised as magnesium transporters. Like their bacterial CorA homologues, the plant MRS2 proteins are characterised by an invariable GMN tripeptide motif terminating the first of two closely spaced transmembrane domains at the carboxy-termini. The functional Mg(2+) transport channel is assembled as a pentamer in the case of CorA. However, in contrast to the single CorA genes of bacteria, plant genomes encode up to 10 highly divergent MRS2 proteins. To elucidate structure-function relationships and the possibility of plant MRS2 hetero-pentamer formation, we performed protein-protein interaction studies in the yeast mating-based split-ubiquitin system (mbSUS) and concomitant protein modelling using I-TASSER. Despite very restricted sequence similarities and variable polypeptide insertions all AtMRS2 proteins feature the key structural elements determined for the CorA crystal structure. The mbSUS setup conclusively demonstrates protein-protein interactions of any given AtMRS2 protein not only with itself but also highly permissive interactions to varying degrees among all AtMRS2 proteins. AtMRS2-3 seems particularly prone to non-selective, strong interactions with the other homologues. Deletion constructs show that six amino acids may be deleted from the carboxy-terminus and 27 (but not 41) from the amino-terminus of AtMRS2-7 without impairment of homologous or heterologous protein interactions. Despite significant diversification, the plant MRS2 proteins have obviously retained an ancient CorA/MRS2 core structure and the capacity for protein-protein interactions. Plant magnesium homeostasis may be influenced by hetero-oligomer channel formation where different plant MRS2 proteins meet in the same membrane naturally or in transgenic approaches.