CHARACTERIZATION OF GENES INVOLVED IN METAL(LOID) HOMEOSTASIS IN PLANTS

Stanford University, Stanford CA

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our research combines established genomic techniques, such as gene deletion and overexpression, with synchrotron x-ray fluorescence (SXRF) microspectroscopy and microtomography to characterize the function of genes involved in metal ion homeostasis in plants. We pioneered the use of SXRF in gene characterization with a gene critical for vacuolar iron (Fe) transport in seed, which has far reaching implications for the development of Fe enriched grain and the reduction in Fe deficiency anemia in humans. While mature seed represents an ideal sample for SXRF analysis, seed-expressed genes are only a subset of the plant genome. To characterize genes that encode for metal(loid) transporters in roots, leaves and developing seed, fresh or live plant imaging is preferred, due to the elemental and distributional artifacts that can result from dehydration, resin infiltration and sectioning. Constraints on live or fresh plant imaging range from the sensitivity of the detector, the motion of the stepping motors, as well as a range of issues with sample drying. We wish to conduct fresh- and live-plant imaging studies at BL2-3 to help characterize genes involved in metal ion homeostasis. Our current projects involve further characterizing genes that encode for vacuolar Fe transporter, VIT1, and transporters responsible for the transport of arsenic within the plant and into the seed.