title: Higher sterol content regulated by CYP51 with concomitant lower phospholipid content in membranes is a common strategy for aluminium tolerance in several plant species.
abstract: Several studies have shown that differences in lipid composition and in the lipid biosynthetic pathway affect the aluminium (Al) tolerance of plants, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences. Phospholipids create a negative charge at the surface of the plasma membrane and enhance Al sensitivity as a result of the accumulation of positively charged Al(3+) ions. The phospholipids will be balanced by other electrically neutral lipids, such as sterols. In the present research, Al tolerance was compared among pea (Pisum sativum) genotypes. Compared with Al-tolerant genotypes, the Al-sensitive genotype accumulated more Al in the root tip, had a less intact plasma membrane, and showed a lower expression level of PsCYP51, which encodes obtusifoliol-14α-demethylase (OBT 14DM), a key sterol biosynthetic enzyme. The ratio of phospholipids to sterols was higher in the sensitive genotype than in the tolerant genotypes, suggesting that the sterol biosynthetic pathway plays an important role in Al tolerance. Consistent with this idea, a transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana line with knocked-down AtCYP51 expression showed an Al-sensitive phenotype. Uniconazole-P, an inhibitor of OBT 14DM, suppressed the Al tolerance of Al-tolerant genotypes of maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and triticale (×Triticosecale Wittmark cv. Currency). These results suggest that increased sterol content, regulated by CYP51, with concomitant lower phospholipid content in the root tip, results in lower negativity of the plasma membrane. This appears to be a common strategy for Al tolerance among several plant species.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan wagatuma@tds1.tr.yamagata-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wagatsuma
authors.affiliation: HMD Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Shahadat Hossain
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan.
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maejima
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8505, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sekimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Teikyo University, Utsunomiya 320-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.affiliation: Antibiotics Laboratory RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; RIKEN Centre for Sustainable Resource Science, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomonobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyomasu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Keitaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tawaraya
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.affiliation: Cryobiosystem Research Centre, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka 020-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Matsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Agro-Environmental Science, Tsukuba 305-8604, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikka
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Akifumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Asami
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umetsu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kannari
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism; D058886:Sterol 14-Demethylase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013261:Sterols / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010743:Phospholipids; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013261:Sterols; D000535:Aluminum; D058886:Sterol 14-Demethylase
keywords: Aluminium (Al) tolerance; CYP51; phospholipid; plasma membrane; sterol; uniconazole-P.