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Iron assimilation and transcription factor controlled synthesis of riboflavin in plants

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Abstract

Iron homeostasis is vital for many cellular processes and requires a precise regulation. Several iron efficient plants respond to iron starvation with the excretion of riboflavin and other flavins. Basic helix–loop–helix transcription factors (TF) are involved in the regulation of many developmental processes, including iron assimilation. Here we describe the isolation and characterisation of two Arabidopsis bHLH TF genes, which are strongly induced under iron starvation. Their heterologous ectopic expression causes constitutive, iron starvation independent excretion of riboflavin. The results show that both bHLH TFs represent an essential component of the regulatory pathway connecting iron deficiency perception and riboflavin excretion and might act as integrators of various stress reactions.

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Abbreviations

bHLH:

Basic helix–loop–helix

BPDS:

4,7-Diphenyl-1,10-phenanthrolinedisulfonic acid

CaMV:

Cauliflower mosaic virus

TF:

Transcription factor

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Acknowledgments

We thank Petra Hoffmeister, Susanne Knüpfer, Annett Busching, Alexandra Rech and Miriam Eisbrenner for technical assistance and Dr. Armin Meister for help with the statistical analysis. The GATEWAY overexpression vectors pJAM1502 and pB6GateS2 were kindly provided by Dr. Sergey Kushnir.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Corrensstr. 3, 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    A. Vorwieger, C. Gryczka, A. Czihal, D. Douchkov, J. Tiedemann, H.-P. Mock, I. Saalbach & H. Bäumlein

  2. University of Cologne, Lehrstuhl Botanik III, Cologne, Germany

    M. Jakoby

  3. University of Bielefeld, Lehrstuhl für Genomforschung, Bielefeld, Germany

    B. Weisshaar

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  1. A. Vorwieger
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  2. C. Gryczka
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  3. A. Czihal
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  4. D. Douchkov
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  5. J. Tiedemann
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  7. M. Jakoby
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  9. I. Saalbach
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  10. H. Bäumlein
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Correspondence to H. Bäumlein.

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Dedicated to the 65th birthday of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wobus.

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Vorwieger, A., Gryczka, C., Czihal, A. et al. Iron assimilation and transcription factor controlled synthesis of riboflavin in plants. Planta 226, 147–158 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-006-0476-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-006-0476-9

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