Recently, the Soil-Plant Interaction Innovation Team at the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has developed a high-efficiency visualization and detection technology for inorganic phosphorus in plant cells. They have also unveiled a novel mechanism for regulating the distribution of inorganic phosphorus in plant cells. The related research findings have been published in Nature Plants.
The distribution pattern of inorganic phosphorus in the root elongation zone cells of rice. Image provided by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth and development. Plants primarily absorb inorganic phosphate, which is also the main form of phosphorus utilized in plant phosphorus cycling. When phosphorus is abundant, inorganic phosphorus can account for around 80% of the total phosphorus content in plants. Therefore, clarifying the cellular distribution pattern of inorganic phosphorus in plants is crucial for studying the regulatory mechanisms of efficient phosphorus utilization. However, the current understanding of the distribution and storage patterns of inorganic phosphorus between plant tissue cells is still unclear, mainly due to the lack of efficient visualization techniques for plant cell inorganic phosphorus detection.
The research team has developed an efficient detection technique for visualizing inorganic phosphorus in plant cells. Compared to existing detection techniques, this technology has many advantages, including low cost, short processing time, simple operation, and no limitation based on plant species or tissue types.
Using this technology, researchers have identified the primary distribution patterns of inorganic phosphorus in rice and Arabidopsis tissue cells. They have discovered new functions of known phosphorus core regulatory factors and screened and cloned new regulatory factors for phosphorus reutilization in rice leaf cells. This study provides technical support for research on phosphorus nutrient molecular regulation mechanisms and offers new gene resources for efficient genetic improvement of phosphorus in crops.
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Key Program, Outstanding Youth Fund, General Program), as well as projects from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Science and Technology Innovation Project.
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01612-9
