Acclimation responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to sustained phosphite treatments.

Abstract

Phosphite (H₂PO⁻₃) induces a range of physiological and developmental responses in plants by disturbing the homeostasis of the macronutrient phosphate. Because of its close structural resemblance to phosphate, phosphite impairs the sensing, membrane transport, and subcellular compartmentation of phosphate. In addition, phosphite induces plant defence responses by an as yet unknown mode of action. In this study, the acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana plants to a sustained phosphite supply in the growth medium was investigated and compared with plants growing under varying phosphate supplies. Unlike phosphate, phosphite did not suppress the formation of lateral roots in several Arabidopsis accessions. In addition, the expression of well-documented phosphate-starvation-induced genes, such as miRNA399d and At4, was not repressed by phosphite accumulation, whilst the induction of PHT1;1 and PAP1 was accentuated. Thus, a mimicking of phosphate by phosphite was not observed for these classical phosphate-starvation responses. Metabolomic analysis of phosphite-treated plants showed changes in several metabolite pools, most prominently those of aspartate, asparagine, glutamate, and serine. These alterations in amino acid pools provide novel insights for the understanding of phosphite-induced pathogen resistance.

• Authors: Oliver Berkowitz, Ricarda Jost, Daniel O Kollehn, Ricarda Fenske, Patrick M Finnegan, Philip A O'Brien, Giles E St J Hardy, Hans Lambers
• Journal: Journal of experimental botany (J Exp Bot) Vol. 64 Issue 6 Pg. 1731-43 (Apr 2013) ISSN: 1460-2431 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 23404904 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Arabidopsis Proteins
• Culture Media
• MicroRNAs
• PAP1 protein, Arabidopsis
• PHT1;1 protein, Arabidopsis
• Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins
• Phosphate Transport Proteins
• Phosphates
• Phosphites
• REG3A protein, human
• RNA, Plant
• Transcription Factors

Topics

• Acclimatization
• Arabidopsis (drug effects, growth & development, metabolism)
• Arabidopsis Proteins (metabolism)
• Biological Transport
• Culture Media (metabolism)
• Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
• Metabolome
• MicroRNAs (metabolism)
• Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins
• Phosphate Transport Proteins (metabolism)
• Phosphates (metabolism, pharmacology)
• Phosphites (metabolism, pharmacology)
• Plant Roots (drug effects, growth & development)
• Plant Shoots (drug effects, metabolism)
• RNA, Plant (metabolism)
• Stress, Physiological
• Transcription Factors (metabolism)