Al-induced and -activated signals in aluminium resistance

Authors: KOYAMA, HIROYUJI - Gifu University; HUANG, CHAO-FEND - Shanghai Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; Pineros, Miguel; YAMAMOTO, YOKO - Okayama University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2021
Publication Date: 6/22/2022
Citation: Koyama, H., Huang, C., Pineros, M., Yamamoto, Y. 2022. Al-induced and -activated signals in aluminium resistance. Frontiers in Plant Science. 13. Article e925541. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.925541.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.925541

Interpretive Summary: Abiotic stress and mineral nutrition are major limiting factors for the worldwide agronomical productivity. Over 20% of the US land area and approximately 50% of the world’s arable lands consist of acid soils with pH lower than 5. These conditions lead to two major constraints for crop production: aluminum (Al) toxicity and low phosphorus (P) availability. Molecular mechanisms underlying Al-resistance have been studied extensively during the last decade, proving a unique insights into Al-resistance and raising new questions regarding how plants manage these responses through different biological processes. This research topic contains original research articles that provide better understanding of the complexity underlining Al resistance mechanisms, in the model species Arabidopsis and three crops species.

Technical Abstract: As phytotoxic aluminum (Al) appears in the acid soil at pH <5.5 (Kobayashi et al., 2013), plants have evolved resistance mechanisms to cope with the Al rhizotoxicity (Daspute et al., 2017). Research in this field has identified various constitutive and induceble Al resistance mechanisms that protect Al-sensitive cells in the roots (Daspute et al., 2017). For example, exudation of organic acid (OA) from the roots protects the sensitive cells by chelating the phytotoxic Al3+ to less toxic Al-OA chelated compounds. This OA exudation is controlled by both Al-activated and Al-inducible mechanisms, as reported for the malate transporter ALMT1 (ALUMINUM ACTIVATED MALATE TRANSPORTER 1) in various plant species (Wu et al., 2018). In addition, recent studies identified pleiotropic roles of Al tolerant proteins such as SENSITIVE TO PROTON RHIZOTIXICITY1 (STOP1) (Koyama et al., 2021; Sadhukhan et al., 2021b) and ALMT1 (Wu et al., 2018). The level of such proteins play a crucial role to manage Al tolerance and growth response (Fang et al., 2021a). This Research Topic, “Al-Induced and -Activated Signals in Aluminium Resistance,” aimed to enrich our knowledge, enabling a better understanding of the complexity underlining Al resistance mechanisms. The Research Topic contains six original research articles, including three studies using the model species Arabidopsis and three others in crops species, namely tomato, lentil, and cicer.