2. Academic Validation
  3. The LRR receptor-like kinase ALR1 is a plant aluminum ion sensor

The LRR receptor-like kinase ALR1 is a plant aluminum ion sensor

  • Cell Res. 2024 Jan 10. doi: 10.1038/s41422-023-00915-y.
Zhong Jie Ding # 1,  Chen Xu # 1 2,  Jing Ying Yan 3,  Yu Xuan Wang 1,  Meng Qi Cui 1,  Jun Jie Yuan 1,  Ya Nan Wang 1,  Gui Xin Li 4,  Jian Xiang Wu 4,  Yun Rong Wu 1,  Ji Ming Xu 1,  Chun Xiao Li 1,  Yuan Zhi Shi 5,  Chuan Zao Mao 1,  Jiang Tao Guo 6,  Jian Min Zhou 7,  Moussa Benhamed 8,  Nicholas P Harberd 1 9,  Shao Jian Zheng 10 11 12
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
  • 2 Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
  • 3 Agricultural Experimental Station, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
  • 5 Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
  • 6 Medical School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
  • 7 Center for Genome Biology and State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
  • 8 Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRAE, Univ Evry, Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), Orsay, France.
  • 9 Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  • 10 State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. [email protected].
  • 11 Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. [email protected].
  • 12 Institute of Ecological Civilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 38200278 DOI: 10.1038/s41422-023-00915-y
Abstract

Plant survival requires an ability to adapt to differing concentrations of nutrient and toxic soil ions, yet ion sensors and associated signaling pathways are mostly unknown. Aluminum (Al) ions are highly phytotoxic, and cause severe crop yield loss and forest decline on acidic soils which represent ∼30% of land areas worldwide. Here we found an Arabidopsis mutant hypersensitive to Al. The gene encoding a leucine-rich-repeat receptor-like kinase, was named Al Resistance1 (ALR1). Al ions binding to ALR1 cytoplasmic domain recruits BAK1 co-receptor kinase and promotes ALR1-dependent phosphorylation of the NADPH Oxidase RbohD, thereby enhancing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation. ROS in turn oxidatively modify the RAE1 F-box protein to inhibit RAE1-dependent proteolysis of the central regulator STOP1, thus activating organic acid anion secretion to detoxify Al. These findings establish ALR1 as an Al ion receptor that confers resistance through an integrated Al-triggered signaling pathway, providing novel insights into ion-sensing mechanisms in living organisms, and enabling future molecular breeding of acid-soil-tolerant crops and trees, with huge potential for enhancing both global food security and forest restoration.

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