title: Metabolic engineering of the iodine content in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Plants are a poor source of iodine, an essential micronutrient for human health. Several attempts of iodine biofortification of crops have been carried out, but the scarce knowledge on the physiology of iodine in plants makes results often contradictory and not generalizable. In this work, we used a molecular approach to investigate how the ability of a plant to accumulate iodine can be influenced by different mechanisms. In particular, we demonstrated that the iodine content in Arabidopsis thaliana can be increased either by facilitating its uptake with the overexpression of the human sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) or through the reduction of its volatilization by knocking-out HOL-1, a halide methyltransferase. Our experiments show that the iodine content in plants results from a balance between intake and retention. A correct manipulation of this mechanism could improve iodine biofortification of crops and prevent the release of the ozone layer-threatening methyl iodide into the atmosphere.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landini
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gonzali
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kiferle
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tonacchera
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agretti
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimida
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vitti
authors.forename: Amedeo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alpi
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinchera
authors.forename: Pierdomenico
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perata