SEMINAR:Metal transporter MTP8 has a central...

SEMINAR:Metal transporter MTP8 has a central...

Speaker: Seçkin Eroğlu

Title: Metal transporter MTP8 has a central role in iron and manganese homeostasis in plants

Date/Time: 18 November 2020/ 13:40 - 14:30

Zoom: Meeting ID:  957 4762 0310

Passcode:  gradsem

Abstract:  Metal transporter MTP8 has a central role in iron and manganese homeostasis in plants. Iron (Fe)deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in humans. This is due to the plant-based food source that lacks enough Fe. Besides, agricultural production is limited if Fe concentrations in plants fall into deficiency range. To discover genes that determine Fe levels in plants, we screened a pool of Arabidopsisthaliana mutant plants under low Fe conditions for the ones that show poor development. This screen identified MTP8, an uncharacterized gene belonging to the MetalTolerance Protein family. GUS reporter assay showed MTP8 was expressed in the outer parts of the root under low Fe conditions and unexpectedly, also in cotyledons.Heterologous expression of MTP8  gene complemented yeast mutants that are hypersensitive to Fe or manganese (Mn) due to lack of vacuolar metal transporters. Metal analysis of wild type, knock-out and overexpression mutants of MTP8 showed Fe and Mn uptake in the root and translocation of those to the shoot is dependent on the level of MTP8 expression. We also investigate MTP8s possible role in cotyledons. GUSreporter assay showed that MTP8 is active during the later stage of seed development and its expression coincides with manganese entry into the embryo. X-ray synchrotron analysis of mature seeds indicated MTP8 localizes Fe and Mn inthe single-cell layer under the epidermis in the abaxial side of the cotyledons. We propose MTP8 is the key between Fe and Mn interaction in plants and promising for biofortification.

Bio:Asst.Prof.Dr.Seckin Eroglu was born in 1985 in Izmir. After graduating from METU Molecular Biology and Genetics Department, he conducted MSc in Yeditepe University inBiotechnology with TUBİTAK fellowship. He finished PhD in Leibniz Institute in Gatersleben, Germany on plant molecular nutrition. He conducted postdoctoral research at Dartmouth College, USA as a Fulbright fellow. He published two first-author articles in the renowned journal, Plant Physiology, and nominated the international Norman Borlaug fellowship in agricultural biotechnology in 2015. He is currently working as an assistant professor in METU Biological Sciences Department. His research focuses on the metal transport in plants, the application of Crispr technology, and the production of genetically modified organisms.