Heterologous expression of ISU1 gene from Fragaria vesca enhances plant tolerance to Fe depletion in Arabidopsis

Zhizhong Song; Shizhuo Lin; Jiayu Fu; Yahui Chen; Hongxia Zhang; Jianzhao Li; Meixia Liang

doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.05.010

Heterologous expression of ISU1 gene from Fragaria vesca enhances plant tolerance to Fe depletion in Arabidopsis

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2022 Aug 1:184:65-74. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.05.010. Epub 2022 May 24.

Authors

Zhizhong Song¹, Shizhuo Lin², Jiayu Fu², Yahui Chen³, Hongxia Zhang², Jianzhao Li⁴, Meixia Liang⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludong University/Key Laboratory of Molecular Module-Based Breeding of High Yield and Abiotic Resistant Plants in Universities of Shandong, 186 Hongqizhong Road, Yantai, 264025, China; Department of Plant Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK. Electronic address: 3614@ldu.edu.cn.
² The Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludong University/Key Laboratory of Molecular Module-Based Breeding of High Yield and Abiotic Resistant Plants in Universities of Shandong, 186 Hongqizhong Road, Yantai, 264025, China.
³ The Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludong University/Key Laboratory of Molecular Module-Based Breeding of High Yield and Abiotic Resistant Plants in Universities of Shandong, 186 Hongqizhong Road, Yantai, 264025, China; Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁴ The Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludong University/Key Laboratory of Molecular Module-Based Breeding of High Yield and Abiotic Resistant Plants in Universities of Shandong, 186 Hongqizhong Road, Yantai, 264025, China. Electronic address: zhaojianli95@163.com.
⁵ The Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, Ludong University/Key Laboratory of Molecular Module-Based Breeding of High Yield and Abiotic Resistant Plants in Universities of Shandong, 186 Hongqizhong Road, Yantai, 264025, China. Electronic address: mxliangdd@163.com.

PMID: 35636333
DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.05.010

Abstract

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster assembly genes play important roles in plant growth and development. However, their biological function in fruit crops is still unknown, especially in strawberry. In this study, Fe depletion significantly inhibited the growth, photosynthesis, Fe accumulation level and the enzyme activity of Fe-S proteins of aconitase (ACO), nitrate reductase (NiR) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in strawberry seedlings. In addition, 40 Fe-S cluster assembly genes were isolated from strawberry, which were significantly varied among different tissues/organs and were differentially responded to Fe depletion in different tissue parts. In total, 79% of the responsive genes were up-regulated in shoots, while 65% of the responsive genes were down-regulated in roots under Fe depletion. Moreover, the expression level of ISU1 was the highest in strawberry tissues, especially in young fruits, and over-expression of ISU1 gene in Arabidopsis significantly enhanced the Fe accumulation, leaf total chlorophyll, ACO and SDH activities in transgenic lines, and strengthened plant tolerance to Fe depletion. This study provides gene resources to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of Fe-S cluster assembly in strawberry, and lays a theoretical foundation to reveal Fe nutrition and metabolism in Rosaceae fruits.

Keywords: Fe depletion; Fe metabolism; Fe-S cluster assembly genes; Over-expression transgenic lines; Strawberry.

MeSH terms

Arabidopsis* / genetics
Fragaria* / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Plant Development
Plant Roots / genetics