Characterization of FRD3, a zinc and iron homeostasis actor in Arabidopsis relatives

Zinc and iron are two essential micronutrients for plants. The homeostasis networks of the two metals are intertwined. Arabidopsis halleri is a zinc- and cadmium-tolerant and zinc-hyperaccumulating species, which also present adaptation of its iron homeostasis(1,4). Transcriptomic studies identified genes which are constitu-tively over-expressed in Arabidopsis halleri compared to Arabidopsis thaliana and which may have a role in metal tolerance or accumulation(2-4). Among them, a candidate gene encodes the FRD3 (FERRIC REDUCTASE DEFECTIVE 3) protein, a member of the MATE family of membrane transporters. FRD3 is a citrate transporter involved in iron homeostasis(5-7) and plays a role in zinc tolerance in A. thaliana(8). The FRD3 gene displays a complex regulation. In A. thaliana, alternative transcript initiation for FRD3 determines two transcripts, which dif-fer in their 5'UTRs and have differential translation efficiency. The two transcripts are selectively regulated under stress conditions: iron and zinc depletion, zinc excess or cadmium presence(9). In A. halleri, a single highly ex-pressed FRD3 transcript with high translation efficiency is present(9).
We are further examining the FRD3 function in zinc and iron homeostasis in A. thaliana and A. halleri. We will present data (i) on the high expression of FRD3 in A. halleri, (ii) on the functional characterization of the two alternative FRD3 transcripts and their role in metal homeostasis in A. thaliana in comparison with the A. halleri FRD3 transcript and (iii) on the zinc phenotypes of the frd3 A. thaliana mutant.