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. 2021 Mar 16;11(1):6040.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85649-w.

Downregulation of Zn-transporters along with Fe and redox imbalance causes growth and photosynthetic disturbance in Zn-deficient tomato

Ahmad Humayan Kabir  1 , Mst Salma Akther  2 , Milan Skalicky  3 , Urmi Das  2 , Gholamreza Gohari  4 , Marian Brestic  5   6 , Md Monzur Hossain  2
Affiliations

Downregulation of Zn-transporters along with Fe and redox imbalance causes growth and photosynthetic disturbance in Zn-deficient tomato

Ahmad Humayan Kabir et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) deficiency hinders growth and development in tomato. This study unveils the responses of how Zn starvation affects physiological and molecular processes in tomato. Zn deficiency negatively affected the biomass, cellular integrity, and chlorophyll synthesis in tomato. Also, Zn deficiency decreased the maximum yield of PSII, photosynthesis performance index and dissipation energy per active reaction center, although the antenna size, trapping energy efficiency and electron transport flux were stable in Zn-starved leaves. Further, Zn shortage caused a substantial reduction in Zn and Fe concentrations in both roots and shoots along with decreased root Fe-reductase activity accompanied by the downregulation of Fe-regulated transporter 1, Zn transporter-like (LOC100037509), and Zn transporter (LOC101255999) genes predicted to be localized in the root plasma membrane. The interactome partners of these Zn transporters are predominantly associated with root-specific metal transporter, ferric-chelate reductase, BHLH transcriptional regulator, and Zn metal ion transporters, suggesting that Zn homeostasis may be tightly linked to the Fe status along with BHLH transcription factor in Zn-deficient tomato. We also noticed elevated O2.- and H2O2 due to Zn deficiency which was consistent with the inefficient antioxidant properties. These findings will be useful in the downstream approach to improve vegetable crops sensitive to Zn-deficiency.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phenotype (a), root length (b), root dry weight (c), shoot height (d), shoot dry weight (e), leaf chlorophyll score (f) and root FCR (ferric chelate reductase) activity (g) in tomato cultivated under Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient conditions for 14 days. Different letters indicate significant differences between means ± SD of treatments (p < 0.05, n = 3).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters: (a) maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), (b) photosynthesis performance index (Pi_ABS), (c) dissipation energy per active reaction center (DIo/RC), (d) absorption flux/effective antenna size of an active reaction center (ABS/RC), (e) electron transport flux further than QA DIo/RC (ET2o/RC) and (f) trapped energy flux leading to a reduction of QA (TRo/RC) in young leaves of tomato cultivated Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient conditions for 14 days. Different letters indicate significant differences between means ± SD of treatments (p < 0.05, n = 3).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total soluble proteins (a), electrolyte leakage (b), cell death % (c), O2− (d), H2O2 (e) and lipid peroxidase activity (f) in roots and shoots of tomato cultivated under Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient conditions for 14 days. Different letters indicate significant differences between means ± SD of treatments (p < 0.05, n = 3).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Quantitative expression of iron-regulated transporter 1, zinc transporter-like (LOC100037509) and zinc transporter (LOC101255999) genes in roots of tomato cultivated under Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient conditions for 14 days (a) and computational sub-cellular localization prediction (b). Different letters indicate significant differences between means ± SD of treatments (p < 0.05, n = 3).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Predicted gene interaction partners of iron-regulated transporter 1, zinc transporter-like (LOC100037509) and zinc transporter (LOC101255999) genes in tomato. Interactome was generated using Cytoscape for STRING data.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The activities of (a) superoxide dismutase (SOD), (b) catalase (CAT), (c) ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and (d) glutathione reductase (GR) in roots and shoots of tomato cultivated under Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient conditions for 14 days. Different letters indicate significant differences between means ± SD of treatments (p < 0.05, n = 3).
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