Open AccessReal‐time whole‐plant dynamics of heavy metal transport in Arabidopsis halleri and Arabidopsis thaliana by gamma‐ray imaging
Author(s) -
Kajala Kaisa,
Walker Katherine L.,
Mitchell Gregory S.,
Krämer Ute,
Cherry Simon R.,
Brady Siobhan M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plant direct
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.211
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 2475-4455
DOI - 10.1002/pld3.131
Subject(s) - hyperaccumulator , arabidopsis , arabidopsis thaliana , shoot , zinc , botany , biology , phytoremediation , chemistry , environmental chemistry , gene , heavy metals , biochemistry , organic chemistry , mutant
Heavy metals such as zinc are essential for plant growth, but toxic at high concentrations. Despite our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of heavy metal uptake by plants, experimentally addressing the real‐time whole‐plant dynamics of heavy metal uptake and partitioning has remained a challenge. To overcome this, we applied a high sensitivity gamma‐ray imaging system to image uptake and transport of radioactive 65 Zn in whole‐plant assays of Arabidopsis thaliana and the Zn hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri . We show that our system can be used to quantitatively image and measure uptake and root‐to‐shoot translocation dynamics of zinc in real time. In the metal hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri, 65 Zn uptake and transport from its growth media to the shoot occurs rapidly and on time scales similar to those reported in rice. In transgenic A. halleri plants in which expression of the zinc transporter gene HMA 4 is suppressed by RNA i, 65 Zn uptake is completely abolished.