Published using Google Docs
THE DIVERSE IRON DISTRIBUTION IN EUDICOTYLEDONEAE SEEDS: FROM ARABIDOPSIS TO QUINOA
Updated automatically every 5 minutes

THE DIVERSE IRON DISTRIBUTION IN EUDICOTYLEDONEAE SEEDS: FROM ARABIDOPSIS TO QUINOA

 

Ibeas, M.A.1, Grant-Grant, S.1, Coronas, M.F.1, Navarro, N.1, Abreu, I.2, Castillo-Michel, H.3, Pérez, F.4, González-Guerrero, M.2 and Roschzttardtz, H.1

 

1 Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile,

2 Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (UPM-INIA), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain,

3 ID21, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France,

4 Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

 

Iron is an essential micronutrient for all living organisms. Seeds accumulate iron during embryo maturation stages of embryogenesis. The role of iron in seed yields is an important agronomical trait because iron deficiency affects plant reproduction and limit crops yields. Using Arabidopsis thaliana it has been described that iron accumulates in the vacuoles of the endodermis during seed development. Using Perls/DAB staining we were able to identify this distribution pattern was conserved in different members from Brassicales. We extend this study to embryos belonging to species from different orders from Eudicotyledoneae. Our results suggest that iron pattern found in Arabidopsis is not extended to all Eudicotyledoneae. Noticeably, in Chenopodium quinoa embryos iron accumulates in several cell layers including cortex and endodermis cells. Chenopodium quinoa is a highly nutritious crop that is adapted to a wide range of ecosystems and has reach international attention because of the nutritional value of its seeds and demand for quinoa has soared in recent years in developed countries. We also found that iron loading during Chenopodium quinoa seed development is different than what we observed before in embryos belonging to the Brassicaceae family. So far, studies have been not be successful in to determine where iron accumulate in quinoa embryo. We detected high amount of phytoferritins in quinoa embryos. Ours results open new questions about the molecular mechanism controlling iron loading, distribution and accumulation in quinoa embryo seeds.

 

This work was funded by Conicyt-Chile Grants 21160350 to MAI and FONDECYT 1160334 (Chilean Government) to HR.