Functional characterization of a high‐affinity iron transporter ( PiFTR ) from the endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica and its role in plant growth and development

Autor: Meenakshi Dua, Nidhi Verma, Durga Prasad, Atul Kumar Johri, Sneh Lata Panwar, Om Prakash Narayan, Abhimanyu Jogawat
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Environmental Microbiology. 24:689-706
ISSN: 1462-2920
1462-2912
Popis: Iron (Fe) is a micronutrient required for plant growth and development; however, most Fe forms in soil are not readily available to plants, resulting in low Fe contents in plants and, thereby, causing Fe deficiency in humans. Biofortification through plant-fungal co-cultivation might be a sustainable approach to increase crop Fe contents. Therefore, we aimed to examine the role of a Piriformospora indica Fe transporter on rice Fe uptake under low Fe conditions. A high-affinity Fe transporter (PiFTR) from P. indica was identified and functionally characterized. PiFTR fulfilled all criteria expected of a functional Fe transporter under Fe-limited conditions. Additionally, PiFTR expression was induced when P. indica was grown under low Fe conditions, and PiFTR complemented a yeast mutant lacking Fe transport. A knockdown (KD) P. indica strain was created via RNA interference to understand the physiological role of PiFTR. We observed that the KD-PiFTR-P. indica strain transported a significantly lower amount of Fe to colonized rice (Oryza sativa) than the wild type (WT) P. indica. WT P. indica-colonized rice plants were healthier and performed significantly better than KD-PiFTR-P. indica-colonized rice plants. Our study offers potential avenues for an agronomically sound amelioration of plant growth in low Fe environments.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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