Vacuolar transport of nicotine is mediated by a multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporter in Nicotiana tabacum.

ABSTRACT: Alkaloids play a key role in plant defense mechanisms against pathogens and herbivores, but the plants themselves need to cope with their toxicity as well. The major alkaloid of the Nicotiana species, nicotine, is translocated via xylem transport from the root tissues where it is biosynthesized to the accumulation sites, the vacuoles of leaves. To unravel the molecular mechanisms behind this membrane transport, we characterized one transporter, the tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) jasmonate-inducible alkaloid transporter 1 (Nt-JAT1), whose expression was coregulated with that of nicotine biosynthetic genes in methyl jasmonate-treated tobacco cells. Nt-JAT1, belonging to the family of multidrug and toxic compound extrusion transporters, was expressed in roots, stems, and leaves, and localized in

SUBMITTER: Morita M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2650162 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature