Zinc Gene Switches in Plants
June 4, 2010| |
If plants are able to absorb more zinc this would help solve the lack of this mineral in many people's diets. Zinc deficiency causes growth retardation, infection susceptibility, and diarrhea in children. But there is hope in the horizon. Geneticist Mark Aarts of Wageningen UR in the Netherlands and colleagues discovered two gene switches in plants which enable better zinc intake. Their findings are published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The gene switches identified as bZIP19 and bZIP23 regulate zinc intake in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. If these two stop working, the plant becomes hyper sensitive for zinc shortage. Hardly any effect was observed on a plant if one gene switch did not work. The challenge for the scientists now is how to activate the gene switches during times of acute zinc shortage.
A feature article is available at http://www.wur.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/Zinc_switches_found_in_plants.htm
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