Rapid transporter regulation prevents substrate flow traffic jams in boron transport
Abstract
Nutrient uptake by roots often involves substrate-dependent regulated nutrient transporters. For robust uptake, the system requires a regulatory circuit within cells and a collective, coordinated behaviour across the tissue. A paradigm for such systems is boron uptake, known for its directional transport and homeostasis, as boron is essential for plant growth but toxic at high concentrations. In Arabidopsis thaliana Boron up- take occurs via diffusion facilitators (NIPs) and exporters (BORs), each presenting distinct polarity. Intriguingly, although boron soil concentrations are homogenous and stable, both transporters manifest strikingly swift boron-dependent regulation. Through mathematical modelling, we demonstrate that slower regulation of these transporters leads to physiologically detrimental oscillatory behaviour. Cells become periodically exposed to potentially cytotoxic boron levels, and nutrient throughput to the xylem becomes hampered. We conclude that, while maintaining homeostasis, swift transporter regulation within a polarised tissue context is critical to prevent intrinsic traffic-jam like behaviour of nutrient flow.
Data availability
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Data from: Rapid transporter regulation prevents substrate flow traffic jams in boron transportAvailable at Dryad Digital Repository under a CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J004553/1)
- Athanasius FM Marée
- Verônica A. Grieneisen
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (25221202)
- Toru Fujiwara
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (BB/ L014130/1)
- Susan Duncan
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (15J11021)
- Naoyuki Sotta
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Maria J Harrison, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, United States
Version history
- Received: March 22, 2017
- Accepted: August 13, 2017
- Accepted Manuscript published: September 5, 2017 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: September 29, 2017 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2017, Sotta et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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