Thlaspi caerulescens, the famous model plant of heavy-metal hyperaccumulator, can uptake and accumulate large amount of heavy metals in its above-ground part of the plants. However, the very low biomass in Thlaspi caerulescens makes this plant unfit for direct application in phytoremediation. In recent years, there are many reports about the physiological and molecular characterization of Thlaspi caerulescens under heavy metals stresses, including absorption, transport and intracellular detoxification processes (e.g., chelation and compartmentation). Research teams have conducted many studies of chelators in plants, such as organ acid, amino acid, phytochelatins, metallothioneins and nicotianamine, and so on. Several transport protein families, such as Zinc Regulated Protein, Cation Diffusion Facilitator, Natural Resistance and Macrophage Protein and Heavy Metal ATPase, play important role in short/long distance transport in the plant. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanisms of heavy metals accumulation in Thlaspi caerulescens, with particular emphasis on the roles of transporters and chelatins in modulating plant heave-metal-stress responses.
Absorption ; Azetidinecarboxylic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Cation Transport Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Metalloproteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Metals, Heavy ; metabolism ; Phytochelatins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Thlaspi ; genetics ; metabolism

Phytohormone auxins play important roles in plant growth and development. The primary auxin-response genes can be classified into three major groups: Aux/IAAs, SAURs and GH3s. Significant progress has been made in understanding these gene families by approaches of the functional genomics, molecular genetics and molecular biology. In this review, we focused on the structures, functions and models of the expressional regulation of plant GH3 genes. The interactions in the signal transduction pathways between auxins and other signals mediated by the GH3 genes, the relationship between the GH3 genes and the stress adaptation responses of plants are emphasized.
Arabidopsis Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Genes, Plant ; Ligases ; genetics ; Multigene Family ; Plant Growth Regulators ; genetics ; Soybean Proteins ; genetics

The regulation of the heavy-metal accumulation in vivo for plant survival is very complex. The metal cation transporter plays key roles in the metabolic process. P(1B)-ATPases are the only subgroup of P-ATPases that contribute to heavy metal homeostasis presented in most organisms. Arabidopsis thaliana contains eight genes encoding P(1B)-ATPases. The current reports show that the functions of P(1B)-ATPases are involved in maintaining metal homeostasis, transporting and detoxification in plants. P(1B)-ATPases not only mediated metal ion mobilization and uptake in roots, but also contribute to the metal transport, storage and tolerance in shoots, especially in heavy metal hyperaccumulators. In this paper, we reviewed and discussed the evolution, classification, structure and function of P(1B)-ATPases in plants. HMAs-transgenic manipulation could be a feasible approach for phytoremediation and mineral nutrition fortification.
Adenosine Triphosphatases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Biological Transport ; physiology ; Cation Transport Proteins ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism ; Metals, Heavy ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants ; enzymology ; genetics ; metabolism

Cation transporters play important roles in modulating the concentration of intracellular metal ions. The vacuole is an important storage organelle for many ions. Cation (Ca+)/H+ antiporters (CAXs) located at vacuolar membrane are mainly involved in the Ca2+ flux into the vacuole, and appear to be capable of transporting various divalent cations to some degree. Several CAX genes have been isolated and characterized from various plants in recent years. Four domains of plant CAXs have been identified: NRR regulates Ca2+ transport by a mechanism of N-terminal autoinhibition; Ca domain and C domain confer Ca2+ and Mn2+ specificity among CAX transporters, respectively; D domain plays a part in the regulation of cytosolic pH. AtCAXs identified in Arabidopsis thaliana are involved in the growth, development and stress adaption of plant. AtCAX3 is the mainly Ca2+/H+ transporter in response to salt stress; AtCAX2 and AtCAX4 participate in transportation and detoxicification of heavy metal ions (Cd2+, Zn2+, and Mn2+) in cells under heavy metal stress, and impact root/shoot Cd partitioning in plant. These suggest that CAX genes may be useful for nutritional enhancement of plants, and for increasing phytoremediation potential. Here, the classification, structure and function of CAXs in plants are reviewed.
Antiporters ; chemistry ; physiology ; Arabidopsis ; chemistry ; Arabidopsis Proteins ; chemistry ; physiology ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cation Transport Proteins ; chemistry ; physiology ; Membrane Proteins ; physiology ; Metals, Heavy ; metabolism ; Plant Physiological Phenomena ; Plant Proteins ; physiology ; Plants ; chemistry ; Proton Pumps ; chemistry ; physiology ; Vacuoles ; metabolism ; physiology

Plant type Ⅲ polyketide synthases (PKSs), the pivotal enzymes in the biosynthesis of polyketides, produce backbones of many structurally diverse and functionally different polyketides. So far, a variety of functionally diverse plant type Ⅲ PKSs have been cloned and identified from plant origin. Site-directed mutagenesis is a useful technique to study the complex relationship between protein structure and function. This review summarized advances in the structure-function relation of plant type Ⅲ polyketide synthases by site-directed mutagenesis in recent years, including the modification of the amino acid residues influencing enzyme architectures (such as controlling the specificity of starter substrates, the number of condensation reactions, and the cyclization reactions of the intermediate product). This review provides information to study the structure-function relation of plant type Ⅲ polyketide synthases.