Cis-regulatory elements co-opting core circadian clock regulator CCA1 underlie enhanced expression of HMA4 for metal hyperaccumulation in Arabidopsis halleri.

ABSTRACT: The naturally selected extreme traits of zinc and cadmium hyperaccumulation and hypertolerance in Arabidopsis halleri depend on strongly elevated HEAVY METAL ATPase 4 (HMA4) transcript levels compared to those in the closely related Arabidopsis thaliana. This difference is regulated in cis; AhHMA4 upstream sequences alone are sufficient to confer increased expression, as previously demonstrated using reporter gene fusions stably introduced into both A. halleri and A. thaliana. However, the underlying cis-regulatory divergence specific to A. halleri remains unknown. Here, we identify cis-regulatory metal hyperaccumulation elements (MHEs) that increase AhHMA4 promoter activities by examining stably transformed reporter lines carrying partial deletions or mutations in AhHMA4 upstream sequence

SUBMITTER: Castanedo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12744752 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature