Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #159471

Title: CHARACTERIZATION OF GENES RELATED TO PLANT MINERAL NUTRITION IN ARABIDOPSIS

Author
item WANG, YIHONG - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item PENCE, NICOLE - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item Kochian, Leon

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/2004
Publication Date: 7/24/2004
Citation: Wang, Y., Pence, N.S., Kochian, L.V. 2004. Characterization of genes related to plant mineral nutrition in arabidopsis. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting. p. 311.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Macro- and micronutrients play vital roles in plant growth and development. We have previously identified transcription factors (TGA1 and E2F1) functionally related to macronutrient and micronutrient nutrition. TGA1 was previously shown to be involved in stress responses and is developmentally regulated in the plant while E2F1 is a cell cycle regulator in other organisms. We previously showed that the tomato transcription factor LeTGA1 (Nitf) is induced by nitrogen (N) resupply, and phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and iron (Fe) starvation and was predominantly expressed in the root. Overexpression of LeTGA1 in Arabidopsis did not produce a distinct phenotype. Therefore, gene expression profiling was used to survey the expression of other genes that might be altered by LeTGA1 overexpression. This approach showed that a number of nitrogen metabolic enzymes and different transporters were upregulated in the expression lines. The closest Arabidopsis homolog of this tomato gene, AtTGA1, was found to also be induced by N resupply and predominantly expressed in the root. A T-DNA knockout of AtTGA1 has been identified and is being characterized. With regards to Zn homeostasis, we have identified a transcription factor that may be involved in Zn-dependent regulation of gene expression. Using complementation of a yeast mutant defective in regulation of metal transporters by cellular Zn status, we identified several members of the E2F1 transcription factor family in the heavy metal hyperaccumulator, Thlaspi caerulescens that are candidates for this role in plants. We currently are using gene profiling analysis to identify genome-wide alterations in gene expression in knockouts of this gene and these results will be presented.