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Expression of the cassava nitrate transporter NRT2.1 enables Arabidopsis low nitrate tolerance

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Abstract

The cassava grows well on low-nutrient soils because of its high-affinity to absorb nitrate. However, the molecular mechanisms by which cassava adapts itself to this environment remain elusive, although we have cloned a putative gene named MeNRT2.1 which has a crucial role in high-affinity nitrate transporter from cassava seeding. Here, the expression pattern of MeNRT2.1 was further assessed using the GUS activity driven by MeNRT2.1 promoter in Arabidopsis transformation plants. The GUS activity was monitored over time following the reduction of nitrate supply. The GUS gene expression not only peaked in roots after 12 h in 0.2 mM nitrate media, but also stained stems and leaves. Arabidopsis plants with overexpression of MeNRT2.1 increased the biomass compared to the wild type on rich nitrogen (N-full) media. However, chlorate sensitivity analysis showed that Arabidopsis plants expressing MeNRT2.1 were more susceptable to chlorate than wild type. Significantly, after growing for 15 days on media containing 0.2 mM nitrate concentration, wild-type plants became yellow or died, while the transgenic MeNRT2.1 Arabidopsis plants maintained normal growth. With significant increases in the amount of \(^{15}\hbox {NO}_{3}^{-}\) uptake in roots, the MeNRT2.1 plants also increased the contents of chlorophyll and nitrate reductase. Taken together, these results demonstrate that MeNRT2.1 has an important role in adaptation to low nitrate concentration as a nitrate transporter.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Programme of China (grant no. 2018YFD1000500), the national key technology R&D programme of China (grant no. 2015BAD15B01) and awards for excellent researcher from Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (to M.P). Thank David Pincus worked in Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge for revision in all my paper.

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  1. Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, People’s Republic of China

    Liangping Zou, Dengfeng Qi, Jianbo Sun & Ming Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Xu Zheng

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  1. Liangping Zou
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  2. Dengfeng Qi
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Correspondence to Xu Zheng or Ming Peng.

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Corresponding Editor: Umesh Varshney

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Zou, L., Qi, D., Sun, J. et al. Expression of the cassava nitrate transporter NRT2.1 enables Arabidopsis low nitrate tolerance. J Genet 98, 74 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-019-1127-9

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