Overexpression of <i>OsABCG48</i> Lowers Cadmium in Rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.)
Xingzhe Cai,
Meng Wang,
Yucong Jiang,
Changhu Wang,
David W. Ow
Affiliations
Xingzhe Cai
Plant Gene Engineering Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Meng Wang
Plant Gene Engineering Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Yucong Jiang
Plant Gene Engineering Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Changhu Wang
Plant Gene Engineering Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
David W. Ow
Plant Gene Engineering Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Cadmium pollution threatens food safety and security by causing health issues and reducing farmland availability. Engineering genetic changes in crop plants to lower Cd accumulation can be a cost-effective approach to address this problem. Previously, we reported that a rice line, 2B, which expresses a truncated version of OsO3L2 had reduced Cd accumulation throughout the plant, including in seed. However, downstream events caused by expression of this gene were not known. In this study, RNA-seq was used to identify differentially expressed genes between the wild type and 2B rice with or without Cd treatment, leading to the study of an ABC transporter gene, OsABCG48 (ATP-Binding Cassette transporter G family member 48). Heterologous expression of OsABCG48 conferred tolerance to Cd in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Arabidopsis and rice. Moreover, overexpressing OsABCG48 in rice lowered root Cd accumulation that was associated with more extensive lateral root development. These data suggest that OsABCG48 might have applications for engineering low-Cd rice.
