Takehiro Kamiya, T. Fujiwara
Nov 1, 2009
Citations
5
Influential Citations
89
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Plant & cell physiology
Abstract
Antimony (Sb) is toxic to organisms including plants. Although it is not essential to organisms, plants take up Sb from the environment. In this study, we identified an antimonite [Sb(III)] transporter from Arabidopsis thaliana. We examined the Sb(III) tolerance of the disruption mutant plants of arsenite [As(III)] transporters, nodulin 26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), since Sb(III) is similar to As(III) in structure. One of the mutants, nip1;1, showed Sb(III) tolerance and accumulated less Sb. Furthermore, yeast expressing NIP1;1 accumulated twice as much Sb as control. These data indicate that NIP1;1 transports Sb(III) and determines the Sb(III) sensitivity of A. thaliana.