A defensin-like protein drives cadmium efflux and allocation in rice

Jin-Song Luo, Jing Huang, Da-Li Zeng, Jia-Shi Peng, Guo-Bin Zhang, Hai-Ling Ma, Yuan Guan, Hong-Ying Yi, Yan-Lei Fu, Bin Han, Hong-Xuan Lin, Qian Qian () and Ji-Ming Gong ()
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Jin-Song Luo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jing Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Da-Li Zeng: China National Rice Research Institute
Jia-Shi Peng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guo-Bin Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hai-Ling Ma: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuan Guan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hong-Ying Yi: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yan-Lei Fu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Bin Han: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hong-Xuan Lin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qian Qian: China National Rice Research Institute
Ji-Ming Gong: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Pollution by heavy metals limits the area of land available for cultivation of food crops. A potential solution to this problem might lie in the molecular breeding of food crops for phytoremediation that accumulate toxic metals in straw while producing safe and nutritious grains. Here, we identify a rice quantitative trait locus we name cadmium (Cd) accumulation in leaf 1 (CAL1), which encodes a defensin-like protein. CAL1 is expressed preferentially in root exodermis and xylem parenchyma cells. We provide evidence that CAL1 acts by chelating Cd in the cytosol and facilitating Cd secretion to extracellular spaces, hence lowering cytosolic Cd concentration while driving long-distance Cd transport via xylem vessels. CAL1 does not appear to affect Cd accumulation in rice grains or the accumulation of other essential metals, thus providing an efficient molecular tool to breed dual-function rice varieties that produce safe grains while remediating paddy soils.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03088-0

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