Aluminum-activated citrate and malate transporters from the MATE and ALMT families function independently to confer Arabidopsis aluminum tolerance

Plant J. 2009 Feb;57(3):389-99. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03696.x. Epub 2008 Oct 30.

Abstract

Aluminum-activated root malate and citrate exudation play an important role in plant Al tolerance. This paper characterizes AtMATE, a homolog of the recently discovered sorghum and barley Al-tolerance genes, shown here to encode an Al-activated citrate transporter in Arabidopsis. Together with the previously characterized Al-activated malate transporter, AtALMT1, this discovery allowed us to examine the relationship in the same species between members of the two gene families for which Al-tolerance genes have been identified. AtMATE is expressed primarily in roots and is induced by Al. An AtMATE T-DNA knockdown line exhibited very low AtMATE expression and Al-activated root citrate exudation was abolished. The AtALMT1 AtMATE double mutant lacked both Al-activated root malate and citrate exudation and showed greater Al sensitivity than the AtALMT1 mutant. Therefore, although AtALMT1 is a major contributor to Arabidopsis Al tolerance, AtMATE also makes a significant but smaller contribution. The expression patterns of AtALMT1 and AtMATE and the profiles of Al-activated root citrate and malate exudation are not affected by the presence or absence of the other gene. These results suggest that AtALMT1-mediated malate exudation and AtMATE-mediated citrate exudation evolved independently to confer Al tolerance in Arabidopsis. However, a link between regulation of expression of the two transporters in response to Al was identified through work on STOP1, a transcription factor that was previously shown to be necessary for AtALMT1 expression. Here we show that STOP1 is also required for AtMATE expression and Al-activated citrate exudation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aluminum / metabolism*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism*
  • Citric Acid / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Malates / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Organic Anion Transporters / genetics
  • Organic Anion Transporters / metabolism*
  • Phylogeny
  • Plant Roots / genetics
  • Plant Roots / metabolism
  • RNA, Plant / genetics
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • ALMT1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Malates
  • Organic Anion Transporters
  • RNA, Plant
  • STOP1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Transcription Factors
  • citrate-binding transport protein
  • Citric Acid
  • malic acid
  • Aluminum