title: Expression of a vacuole-localized BURP-domain protein from soybean (SALI3-2) enhances tolerance to cadmium and copper stresses.
abstract: The plant-specific BURP family proteins play diverse roles in plant development and stress responses, but the function mechanism of these proteins is still poorly understood. Proteins in this family are characterized by a highly conserved BURP domain with four conserved Cys-His repeats and two other Cys, indicating that these proteins potentially interacts with metal ions. In this paper, an immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) assay showed that the soybean BURP protein SALI3-2 could bind soft transition metal ions (Cd(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Zn(2+) and Cu(2+)) but not hard metal ions (Ca(2+) and Mg(2+)) in vitro. A subcellular localization analysis by confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that the SALI3-2-GFP fusion protein was localized to the vacuoles. Physiological indexes assay showed that Sali3-2-transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings were more tolerant to Cu(2+) or Cd(2+) stresses than the wild type. An inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) analysis illustrated that, compared to the wild type seedlings the Sali3-2-transgenic seedlings accumulated more cadmium or copper in the roots but less in the upper ground tissues when the seedlings were exposed to excessive CuCl2 or CdCl2 stress. Therefore, our findings suggest that the SALI3-2 protein may confer cadmium (Cd(2+)) and copper (Cu(2+)) tolerance to plants by helping plants to sequester Cd(2+) or Cu(2+) in the root and reduce the amount of heavy metals transported to the shoots.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory for Marine Bioresource and Eco-environmental Science, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
authors.forename: Zhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
authors.forename: Yajing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial and Gene Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
authors.forename: Yizhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011485:Protein Binding; D021381:Protein Transport; D013025:Glycine max / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D002104:Cadmium; D003300:Copper