DNA microarray revealed and RNAi plants confirmed key genes conferring low Cd accumulation in barley grains

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Zhong-Hua Chen¹  Lupeng Xie¹  Hongyan Sun¹  Fei Chen¹  Guoping Zhang¹  Feibo Wu²  Eva Vincze³ 

[1] Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, 310058, Hangzhou, PR China;Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, 310058, Hangzhou, PR China;Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, China;Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Slagelse, Denmark;

关键词: Antisense;    Hordeum vulgare;    Cadmium (Cd);    Low-grain-Cd-accumulation;    Transcriptome analysis;    ZIP transporter;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-015-0648-5

 received in 2015-07-07, accepted in 2015-10-20,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUnderstanding the mechanism of low Cd accumulation in crops is crucial for sustainable safe food production in Cd-contaminated soils.ResultsConfocal microscopy, atomic absorption spectrometry, gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence analyses revealed a distinct difference in Cd accumulation and tolerance between the two contrasting barley genotypes: W6nk2 (a low-grain-Cd-accumulating and Cd-sensitive genotype) and Zhenong8 (a high-grain-Cd-accumulating and tolerant genotype). A DNA microarray analysis detected large-scale changes of gene expression in response to Cd stress with a substantial difference between the two genotypes. Cd stress led to higher expression of genes involved in transport, carbohydrate metabolism and signal transduction in the low-grain-Cd-accumulating genotype. Novel transporter genes such as zinc transporter genes were identified as being associated with low Cd accumulation. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed our microarray data. Furthermore, suppression of the zinc transporter genes HvZIP3 and HvZIP8 by RNAi silencing showed increased Cd accumulation and reduced Zn and Mn concentrations in barley grains. Thus, HvZIP3 and HvZIP8 could be candidate genes related to low-grain-Cd-accumulation.ConclusionNovel transporter genes such as HvZIP3 and HvZIP8 were identified as being associated with low-grain-Cd-accumulation. In addition to advancing academic knowledge, our findings may also result in potential economic benefits for molecular breeding of low Cd accumulating barley and other crops.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Sun et al. 2015