title: Characterization of a putative grapevine Zn transporter, VvZIP3, suggests its involvement in early reproductive development in Vitis vinifera L.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Zinc (Zn) deficiency is one of the most widespread mineral nutritional problems that affect normal development in plants. Because Zn cannot passively diffuse across cell membranes, it must be transported into intracellular compartments for all biological processes where Zn is required. Several members of the Zinc-regulated transporters, Iron-regulated transporter-like Protein (ZIP) gene family have been characterized in plants, and have shown to be involved in metal uptake and transport. This study describes the first putative Zn transporter in grapevine. Unravelling its function may explain an important symptom of Zn deficiency in grapevines, which is the production of clusters with fewer and usually smaller berries than normal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified and characterized a putative Zn transporter from berries of Vitis vinifera L., named VvZIP3. Compared to other members of the ZIP family identified in the Vitis vinifera L. genome, VvZIP3 is mainly expressed in reproductive tissue - specifically in developing flowers - which correlates with the high Zn accumulation in these organs. Contrary to this, the low expression of VvZIP3 in parthenocarpic berries shows a relationship with the lower Zn accumulation in this tissue than in normal seeded berries where its expression is induced by Zn. The predicted protein sequence indicates strong similarity with several members of the ZIP family from Arabidopsis thaliana and other species. Moreover, VvZIP3 complemented the growth defect of a yeast Zn-uptake mutant, ZHY3, and is localized in the plasma membrane of plant cells, suggesting that VvZIP3 has the function of a Zn uptake transporter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that VvZIP3 encodes a putative plasma membrane Zn transporter protein member of the ZIP gene family that might play a role in Zn uptake and distribution during the early reproductive development in Vitis vinifera L., indicating that the availability of this micronutrient may be relevant for reproductive development.
authors: Instituto de Biología Vegetal y Biotecnología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
authors: Felipe
authors: F
authors: Gainza-Cortés
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Pérez-Dïaz
authors: Ramón
authors: R
authors: Pérez-Castro
authors: Jaime
authors: J
authors: Tapia
authors: José A
authors: JA
authors: Casaretto
authors: Sebastián
authors: S
authors: González
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Peña-Cortés
authors: Simón
authors: S
authors: Ruiz-Lara
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: González
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000235:genetics; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D019697:Onions / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D027843:Vitis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C017800:zinc-binding protein; D015032:Zinc