Book with abstracts from the COST Action 0905 meeting in ... - UMB
Book with abstracts from the COST Action 0905 meeting in ... - UMB
Book with abstracts from the COST Action 0905 meeting in ... - UMB
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METABOLIC ENGINEERING OF THE IODINE CONTENT IN<br />
ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong>a Land<strong>in</strong>i 1 , Silvia Gonzali 1 , Claudia Kiferle 1 , Massimo Tonacchera 2,4 , Patrizia<br />
Agretti 2,4 , Antonio Dimida 2,4 , Paolo Vitti 2,4 , Amedeo Alpi 3,4 , Aldo P<strong>in</strong>chera 2,4 ,<br />
Pierdomenico Perata 1<br />
1 PlantLab, Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della<br />
Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy<br />
2 Department of Endocr<strong>in</strong>ology and Metabolism, University of Pisa, Via Paradisa 2, 56124<br />
Pisa, Italy<br />
3 Department of Crop Plant Biology, University of Pisa, Via Mariscoglio 34, 56124 Pisa,<br />
Italy<br />
4 Centre of Excellence for <strong>the</strong> study of damage to <strong>the</strong> Nervous and Endocr<strong>in</strong>e systems<br />
produced by Environmental, Alimentary, and Pharmacological agents, AmbiSEN,<br />
University of Pisa<br />
Keywords: Arabidopsis, biofortification, iod<strong>in</strong>e, NIS, volatilization<br />
Plants are a poor source of iod<strong>in</strong>e, an essential micronutrient for human health. Several<br />
attempts of iod<strong>in</strong>e biofortification of crops have been carried out <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> recent years, but<br />
<strong>the</strong> scarce knowledge on <strong>the</strong> physiology of iod<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> plants makes results often<br />
contradictory and not generalizable. In this work, we used a molecular approach to<br />
<strong>in</strong>vestigate how <strong>the</strong> ability of a plant to accumulate iod<strong>in</strong>e can be <strong>in</strong>fluenced by different<br />
mechanisms. In particular, we demonstrated that <strong>the</strong> iod<strong>in</strong>e content <strong>in</strong> Arabidopsis thaliana<br />
can be <strong>in</strong>creased ei<strong>the</strong>r by facilitat<strong>in</strong>g its uptake <strong>with</strong> <strong>the</strong> overexpression of <strong>the</strong> human<br />
sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) or through <strong>the</strong> reduction of its volatilization by knock<strong>in</strong>gout<br />
HOL-1, a halide methyltransferase. Our experiments show that <strong>the</strong> iod<strong>in</strong>e content <strong>in</strong><br />
plants results <strong>from</strong> a balance between <strong>in</strong>take and retention and that <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>crease of <strong>the</strong><br />
uptake could be useless <strong>with</strong>out a concomitant removal of <strong>the</strong> volatilization process. A<br />
correct manipulation of this mechanism could improve iod<strong>in</strong>e biofortification of crops and<br />
prevent <strong>the</strong> release of <strong>the</strong> ozone layer-threaten<strong>in</strong>g methyl iodide <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> atmosphere.