Altered levels of mitochondrial NFS1 affect cellular Fe and S contents in plants.
The ISC Fe-S cluster biosynthetic pathway would play a key role in the regulation of iron and sulfur homeostasis in plants. The Arabidopsis thaliana mitochondrial cysteine desulfurase AtNFS1 has an essential role in cellular ISC Fe-S cluster assembly, and this pathway is one of the main sinks for iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) in the plant. In different plant species it has been reported a close relationship between Fe and S metabolisms; however, the regulation of both nutrient homeostasis is not fully understood. In this study, we have characterized AtNFS1 overexpressing and knockdown mutant Arabidopsis plants. Plants showed alterations in the ISC Fe-S biosynthetic pathway genes and in the activity of Fe-S enzymes. Genes involved in Fe and S uptakes, assimilation, and regulation were up-regulated in overexpressing plants and down-regulated in knockdown plants. Furthermore, the plant nutritional status in different tissues was in accordance with those gene activities: overexpressing lines accumulated increased amounts of Fe and S and mutant plant had lower contents of S. In summary, our results suggest that the ISC Fe-S cluster biosynthetic pathway plays a crucial role in the homeostasis of Fe and S in plants, and that it may be important in their regulation.
['Armas|Alejandro M|AM|', 'Balparda|Manuel|M|', 'Turowski|Valeria R|VR|', 'Busi|Maria V|MV|', 'Pagani|Maria A|MA|', 'Gomez-Casati|Diego F|DF|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4569-2579']
D017360:Arabidopsis D013437:Carbon-Sulfur Lyases D007501:Iron D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins D008928:Mitochondria D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins D013455:Sulfur
Iron Sulfur Cysteine desulfurase Fe–S clusters