Abstract
Reduced crop productivity due to soils containing toxic levels of boron (B) is a worldwide problem in food production. It is estimated that up to 17% of the barley yield losses in southern Australia are caused by B toxicity. We found that the expression of AtBOR4, an Arabidopsis paralog of BOR1, the first identified boron transporter gene, generates plants that are tolerant of high B levels. BOR4 is a polarly localized borate exporter that enhances B efflux from roots. The present study is a foundation for the improvement of crop productivity in soils containing excess B, which are distributed in arid areas of the world.
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
Antiporters / genetics
-
Antiporters / metabolism*
-
Arabidopsis / drug effects*
-
Arabidopsis / genetics
-
Arabidopsis / growth & development
-
Arabidopsis / metabolism*
-
Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
-
Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
-
Boric Acids / metabolism*
-
Boric Acids / toxicity
-
Boron / analysis
-
Boron / toxicity*
-
Cell Membrane / metabolism
-
Genes, Plant
-
Plant Epidermis / cytology
-
Plant Epidermis / metabolism
-
Plant Roots / metabolism
-
Plants, Genetically Modified
-
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
-
Soil / analysis
Substances
-
Antiporters
-
Arabidopsis Proteins
-
BOR1 protein, Arabidopsis
-
BOR4 protein, Arabidopsis
-
Boric Acids
-
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
-
Soil
-
Boron
-
boric acid