Abstract
Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major limiting factor for plant growth and crop production in acidic soils. Al-induced organic acid (OA) exudation plays an important role in plant Al resistance. The exudation of OAs is mediated by membrane-localized OA transporters. In our previous study, a gene encoding the Al-induced malate transporter (MsALMT1) was identified in the roots of the Al-sensitive plant Medicago sativa L. cv. Yumu no. 1 (YM1). To further validate the function of MsALMT1, transgenic plants that overexpressed MsALMT1 under the control of the CaMV 35S (35S) promoter were generated. This transgenic tobacco showed an enhanced capacity for malate efflux and better Al resistance than wild type (WT) plants after exposure to 30 μM Al for 24 h. The Al content in the transgenic plant roots decreased to 40–52 % of that in WT plant roots. These results demonstrate that MsALMT1 is an Al-resistant gene in YM1 and encodes a malate transporter, the overexpression of which effectively enhances the Al resistance of transgenic tobacco plants.
Abbreviations
- CS:
-
Citrate synthase
- MATE:
-
Multidrug and toxin efflux protein
- MDH:
-
Malate dehydrogenase
- MsALMT1:
-
Al-activated malate transporter from Medicago sativa
- OAs:
-
Organic acids
- PEPC:
-
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
- WT:
-
Wild type
- YM1:
-
M. sativa L. cv. Yumu no. 1.
References
Chen Q, Zhang XD, Wang SS, Wang QF, Wang GQ, Nian HJ, Li KZ, Yu YX, Chen LM (2011) Transcriptional and physiological changes of alfalfa in response to aluminium stress. J Agric Sci 149:737–751
Chen Q, Wu KH, Zhang YN, Phan XH, Li KZ, Yu XY, Chen LM (2012) Physiological and molecular responses of broad bean (Vicia faba L.) to aluminum stress. Acta Physiol Plant. doi:10.1007/s11738-11012-11026-11737
Delhaize E, Ryan PR, Hebb DM, Yamamoto Y, Sasaki T, Matsumoto H (2004) Engineering high-level aluminum tolerance in barley with the ALMT1 gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:15249–15254
Delhaize E, Gruber BD, Ryan PR (2007) The roles of organic anion permeases in aluminium resistance and mineral nutrition. FEBS Lett 581:2255–2262
Hoekenga OA, Maron LG, Pineros MA, Cancado GM, Shaff J, Kobayashi Y, Ryan PR, Dong B, Delhaize E, Sasaki T, Matsumoto H, Yamamoto Y, Koyama H, Kochian LV (2006) AtALMT1, which encodes a malate transporter, is identified as one of several genes critical for aluminum tolerance in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:9738–9743
Horsch RB, Fry JE, Hoffmann NL, Eichholtz D, Rogers SG, Fraley RT (1985) A simple and general method for transferring genes into plants. Science 227:1229–1231
Ligaba A, Katsuhara M, Ryan PR, Shibasaka M, Matsumoto H (2006) The BnALMT1 and BnALMT2 genes from rape encode aluminum-activated malate transporters that enhance the aluminum resistance of plant cells. Plant Physiol 142:1294–1303
Ligaba A, Katsuhara M, Sakamoto W, Matsumoto H (2007) The BnALMT1 protein that is an aluminum-activated malate transporter is localized in the plasma membrane. Plant Signal Behav 2:255–257
Liu J, Magalhaes JV, Shaff J, Kochian LV (2009) Aluminum-activated citrate and malate transporters from the MATE and ALMT families function independently to confer Arabidopsis aluminum tolerance. Plant J 57:389–399
Murray MG, Thompson WF (1980) Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. Nucleic Acids Res 8:4321–4325
Pereira JF, Zhou G, Delhaize E, Richardson T, Zhou M, Ryan PR (2010) Engineering greater aluminium resistance in wheat by over-expressing TaALMT1. Ann Bot 106:205–214
Ryan PR, Tyerman SD, Sasaki T, Furuichi T, Yamamoto Y, Zhang WH, Delhaize E (2011) The identification of aluminium-resistance genes provides opportunities for enhancing crop production on acid soils. J Exp Bot 62(1):9–20
Sasaki T, Yamamoto Y, Ezaki B, Katsuhara M, Ahn SJ, Ryan PR, Delhaize E, Matsumoto H (2004a) A wheat gene encoding an aluminum-activated malate transporter. Plant J 37:645–653
Sasaki T, Yamamoto Y, Matsumoto H (2004b) A wheat gene encoding multidrug resistance (MDR)-like protein induced by aluminum stress. Plant Cell Physiol 45:S1
Tesfaye M, Temple SJ, Allan DL, Vance CP, Samac DA (2001) Overexpression of malate dehydrogenase in transgenic alfalfa enhances organic acid synthesis and confers tolerance to aluminum. Plant Physiol 127:1836–1844
Wang QF, Zhao Y, Yi Q, Li KZ, Yu YX, Chen LM (2010) Overexpression of malate dehydrogenase in transgenic tobacco leaves: enhanced malate synthesis and augmented Al-resistance. Acta Physiol Plant 32:1209–1220
Wang QF, Yi Q, Hu QQ, Zhao Y, Nian HJ, Li KZ, Yu YX, Izui K, Chen LM (2012) Simultaneous overexpression of citrate synthase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in leaves augments citrate exclusion and Al resistance in transgenic tobacco. Plant Mol Biol Report 30:992–1005
Wu KH, Xiao SQ, Chen Q, Wang QF, Zhang YN, Li KZ, Yu YX, Chen LM (2012) Changes in the activity and transcription of antioxidant enzymes in response to Al stress in black soybeans. Plant Mol Biol Report 30:1–10
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Foundation of the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2007CB108901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32160063) and Kunming University of Science and Technology for outstanding doctoral research awards (41118010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, Q., Wu, KH., Wang, P. et al. Overexpression of MsALMT1, from the Aluminum-Sensitive Medicago sativa, Enhances Malate Exudation and Aluminum Resistance in Tobacco. Plant Mol Biol Rep 31, 769–774 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0543-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0543-2