title: How do plants respond to copper deficiency?
abstract: The transition metal copper is essential for all organisms yet excess copper is toxic because of production of free radicals via its free form. Therefore, the levels of copper are precisely regulated in a cell. Under copper depleted conditions, the expression of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) is downregulated and its function is compensated by Fe SOD in chloroplasts of higher plants. We presented evidence that a microRNA, miR398, is involved in this downregulation of Cu/Zn SOD genes in Arabidopsis thaliana when grown at low copper levels, corresponding to less than 1 microM Cu in tissue culture media. However, a green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, adjusts to copper depletion by modifying the photosynthetic apparatus from copper containing plastocyanin to iron containing cytochrome c(6). During evolution plants modified one of the main strategies to respond to copper deficiency probably to adapt to different metal environments.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture; Kyushu University; Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Marinus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pilon
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shikanai
references.citation: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2006 Jul;1763(7):578-94
references.pmid: 16766055
references.citation: Dev Biol. 2006 Jan 1;289(1):3-16
references.pmid: 16325172
references.citation: Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2006 Jun;9(3):256-63
references.pmid: 16616609
references.citation: EMBO J. 1991 Jun;10(6):1383-9
references.pmid: 1863287
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 2006 Feb 3;281(5):2882-92
references.pmid: 16282320
references.citation: Plant Cell. 2003 Jun;15(6):1333-46
references.pmid: 12782727
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Dec 20;102(51):18730-5
references.pmid: 16352720
references.citation: Plant Cell. 2005 Apr;17(4):1233-51
references.pmid: 15772282
references.citation: Plant Physiol. 1998 Aug;117(4):1227-34
references.pmid: 9701579
references.citation: Eukaryot Cell. 2002 Oct;1(5):736-57
references.pmid: 12455693
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 2007 Jun 1;282(22):16369-78
references.pmid: 17405879
references.citation: Plant Physiol. 2005 Sep;139(1):425-36
references.pmid: 16126858
references.citation: Plant Cell. 2006 Aug;18(8):2051-65
references.pmid: 16861386
references.citation: Plant Mol Biol. 2003 Mar;51(4):577-87
references.pmid: 12650623
references.citation: Cell. 1999 Apr 30;97(3):383-93
references.pmid: 10319818
references.citation: Plant Cell. 2006 Feb;18(2):412-21
references.pmid: 16387831
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Aug 3;101(31):11511-6
references.pmid: 15272084
references.citation: Nature. 2006 May 18;441(7091):341-4
references.pmid: 16572122
references.citation: Plant Physiol. 1998 Oct;118(2):387-97
references.pmid: 9765524
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 2003 Aug 15;278(33):31286-9
references.pmid: 12773541