Biotechnology strategy for plant improved growth under iron limiting conditions

LEADEN, L.; BUSI, M.V.; GOMEZ-CASATI, D.F

Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires

Encuentro; VIII Encuentro Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Biotecnología REDBIO-Argentina 2013; 2013

REDBIO

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for most organisms, including all plants and animals. Fe deficiency is one of the most prevalent microelement deficiencies in the world, affecting an estimated two billion people. Besides, low Fe bioavailability in cultivated soils limits plant growth. In order to find a strategy to improve the acquisition and accumulation of Fe for plants, we transform Arabidopsis thaliana with co-chaperone AtHscB gene. The transgenic plants were able to increased 2 and 5 fold Fe in their roots under Fe sufficient conditions in comparison with wild type plants. On the other hand, the study under iron deficiency conditions (20 μM Fe) shows that wt seedlings suffer a reduction of 50% in their rosette area whit respect to Fe control conditions. Conversely, transgenic plants do not suffer any reduction when grown under this condition. Moreover, transgenic plants were more resistant at Fe depleted medium after 10 days of growth: wt plants suffer a reduction of 75 % of their leaves while transgenic plants only suffer a reduction of 35%. Finally, the overexpression of Arabidopsis AtHscB results in a significant increased in root Fe content under Fe normal conditions and improved growth under Fe-limiting conditions.