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Nicotianamine synthase gene family as central components in heavy metal and phytohormone response in maize

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Abstract

Nicotianamine (NA) is an important divalent metal chelator and the main precursor of phytosiderophores. NA is synthesized from S-adenosylmethionine in a process catalyzed by nicotianamine synthase (NAS). In this study, a set of structural and phylogenetic analyses have been applied to identify the maize NAS genes based on the maize genome sequence release. Ten maize NAS genes have been mapped; seven of them have not been reported to date. Phylogenetic analysis and expression pattern from microarray data led to their classification into two different orthologous groups. C-terminal fusion of ZmNAS3 with GFP was found in the cytoplasm of Arabidopsis leaf protoplast. Expression analysis by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed ZmNAS genes are responsive to heavy metal ions (Ni, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Cd), and all 10 ZmNAS genes were only observed in the root tissue except of ZmNAS6. The promoter of ZmNAS genes was analyzed for the presence of different cis-element response to all kinds of phytohormones and environment stresses. We found that the ZmNAS gene expression of maize seedlings was regulated by jasmonic acid, abscisic acid, and salicylic acid. Microarray data demonstrated that the ZmNAS genes show differential, organ-specific expression patterns in the maize developmental steps. The integrated comparative analysis can improve our current view of ZmNAS genes and facilitate the functional characterization of individual members.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Chen Li-Hui (The Research Center for Metabolic Syndrome of Central South University, People’s Republic of China) for making the heat map on this manuscript. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and Prof. Rudi Appels for their critical comments and suggestions that significantly improved this manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the National Transgenic Program (2011ZX08005-004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life and Basic Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan, Sichuan, 625014, People’s Republic of China

    Mei-Liang Zhou, Lei-Peng Qi, Qian Zhang & Ji-Rong Shao

  2. Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Room 211, Zhongguancun south-street No 12, Haidian district, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Mei-Liang Zhou, Jun-Feng Pang, Zhi Lei, Yi-Xiong Tang & Yan-Min Wu

  3. School of Resources and Environment, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, People’s Republic of China

    Mei-Liang Zhou & Xue-Mei Zhu

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  1. Mei-Liang Zhou
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  2. Lei-Peng Qi
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  3. Jun-Feng Pang
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Correspondence to Xue-Mei Zhu, Ji-Rong Shao or Yan-Min Wu.

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Mei-Liang Zhou and Lei-Peng Qi contributed equally to this article.

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Zhou, ML., Qi, LP., Pang, JF. et al. Nicotianamine synthase gene family as central components in heavy metal and phytohormone response in maize. Funct Integr Genomics 13, 229–239 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-013-0315-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-013-0315-6

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