Abstract
BackgroundCd is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to most organisms, including humans and plants, and Cd-contaminated rice from China has become a global food safety issue. The early prediction of OsPCR (the plant cadmium resistance protein) which contained a PLAC8 domain was related with the accumulation of Cd in rice. To further understand the biological function of the OsPCR genes on the Cd tolerance and Cd accumulation in rice, we used a low grain-Cd-accumulating rice (xiushui 11) and a high grain-Cd-accumulating rice (xiushui 110) varieties to analyze the relationship between the expression levels of the two most abundant expression genes (OsPCR1 and OsPCR3) and the Cd concentrations in different tissues at different growth periods during Cd stress, and transgenic experiments of OsPCR1 and OsPCR3 were carried out.ResultsOsPCR1 and OsPCR3 were closely related with Cd accumulation. Overexpression of OsPCR1 and OsPCR3 could not only increase the Cd tolerance, but also decrease the Cd accumulation obviously in different parts of the transgenic rice plants (especially in the rice grains), while the RNAi expression plants showed the opposite results.ConclusionsThese results indicate that OsPCR1 and OsPCR3 play critical roles in Cd accumulation in rice, which provides a theoretical basis for the safe production of rice.
Highlights
Cd is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to most organisms, including humans and plants, and Cd-contaminated rice from China has become a global food safety issue
OsLCD gene was expressed in the phloem of vascular bundle and leaf in rice root which was involved in the Cd accumulation of rice [12]; OsLCT1 protein was a membrane protein, involved in the transport process of Cd from the cell to the outside world [3]; Ueno reported that heavy metal ATP enzyme (OsHMA3)
We demonstrated the functions of OsPCR1 and OsPCR3 which were homologous to Arabidopsis thaliana plant cadmium resistance 2 (AtPCR2), and found that the expression levels of OsPCR1 and OsPCR3 were closely related with the Cd contents in rice grains (Figs. 2 and 3)
Summary
Cd is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to most organisms, including humans and plants, and Cd-contaminated rice from China has become a global food safety issue. Many studies have been carried out on the molecular mechanisms of Cd accumulation in rice, and several genes involved in Cd translocation and accumulation have been identified [4, 5]; for example, phytochelatin synthase genes (OsPCS1 and OsPCS2) [6], the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (Nramp) family genes (OsNRAMP1 and OsNRAMP5) [7, 8], heavy metal ATPase gene (OsHMA2) [9], and low-affinity ion transporter gene (OsLCT1) [10], the Fe transporters (OsIRT1 and OsIRT2) [11]. OsLCD gene was expressed in the phloem of vascular bundle and leaf in rice root which was involved in the Cd accumulation of rice [12]; OsLCT1 protein was a membrane protein, involved in the transport process of Cd from the cell to the outside world [3]; Ueno reported that heavy metal ATP enzyme (OsHMA3)
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