GEPHE SUMMARY
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Gephebase Gene
Entry Status
Published
GepheID
GP00000449
Main curator
Martin
PHENOTYPIC CHANGE
Trait Category
Trait
Trait State in Taxon A
Arabidopsis thaliana
Trait State in Taxon B
Arabidopsis halleri
Ancestral State
Data not curated
Taxonomic Status
Taxon A
Latin Name
Common Name
thale cress
Synonyms
thale cress; mouse-ear cress; thale-cress; Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.; Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress); Arabidopsis_thaliana; Arbisopsis thaliana; thale kress
Rank
species
Lineage
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; Embryophyta; Tracheophyta; Euphyllophyta; Spermatophyta; Magnoliophyta; Mesangiospermae; eudicotyledons; Gunneridae; Pentapetalae; rosids; malvids; Brassicales; Brassicaceae; Camelineae; Arabidopsis
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon A an Infraspecies?
No
Taxon B
Latin Name
Common Name
-
Synonyms
Arabis halleri; Cardaminopsis halleri; Arabidopsis halleri (L.) O'Kane & Al-Shehbaz; Arabis halleri L.; Cardaminopsis halleri (L.) Hayek
Rank
species
Lineage
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; Embryophyta; Tracheophyta; Euphyllophyta; Spermatophyta; Magnoliophyta; Mesangiospermae; eudicotyledons; Gunneridae; Pentapetalae; rosids; malvids; Brassicales; Brassicaceae; Camelineae; Arabidopsis
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
No
GENOTYPIC CHANGE
Generic Gene Name
HMA4
Synonyms
ARABIDOPSIS HEAVY METAL ATPASE 4; ATHMA4; heavy metal atpase 4; T20K24.12; T20K24_12; At2g19110
String
Sequence Similarities
Belongs to the cation transport ATPase (P-type) (TC 3.A.3) family. Type IB subfamily.
GO - Molecular Function
GO:0005524 : ATP binding
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GO - Biological Process
GO:0030001 : metal ion transport
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GO - Cellular Component
GO:0016021 : integral component of membrane
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Presumptive Null
Molecular Type
Aberration Type
Molecular Details of the Mutation
unknown
Experimental Evidence
Main Reference
Authors
Hanikenne M; Talke IN; Haydon MJ; Lanz C; Nolte A; Motte P; Kroymann J; Weigel D; et al.
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Abstract
Little is known about the types of mutations underlying the evolution of species-specific traits. The metal hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri has the rare ability to colonize heavy-metal-polluted soils, and, as an extremophile sister species of Arabidopsis thaliana, it is a powerful model for research on adaptation. A. halleri naturally accumulates and tolerates leaf concentrations as high as 2.2% zinc and 0.28% cadmium in dry biomass. On the basis of transcriptomics studies, metal hyperaccumulation in A. halleri has been associated with more than 30 candidate genes that are expressed at higher levels in A. halleri than in A. thaliana. Some of these genes have been genetically mapped to broad chromosomal segments of between 4 and 24 cM co-segregating with Zn and Cd hypertolerance. However, the in planta loss-of-function approaches required to demonstrate the contribution of a given candidate gene to metal hyperaccumulation or hypertolerance have not been pursued to date. Using RNA interference to downregulate HMA4 (HEAVY METAL ATPASE 4) expression, we show here that Zn hyperaccumulation and full hypertolerance to Cd and Zn in A. halleri depend on the metal pump HMA4. Contrary to a postulated global trans regulatory factor governing high expression of numerous metal hyperaccumulation genes, we demonstrate that enhanced expression of HMA4 in A. halleri is attributable to a combination of modified cis-regulatory sequences and copy number expansion, in comparison to A. thaliana. Transfer of an A. halleri HMA4 gene to A. thaliana recapitulates Zn partitioning into xylem vessels and the constitutive transcriptional upregulation of Zn deficiency response genes characteristic of Zn hyperaccumulators. Our results demonstrate the importance of cis-regulatory mutations and gene copy number expansion in the evolution of a complex naturally selected extreme trait. The elucidation of a natural strategy for metal hyperaccumulation enables the rational design of technologies for the clean-up of metal-contaminated soils and for bio-fortification.
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