Plant Nutrition - PLANTNUT

Plant nutrition is of major importance within Plant Sciences, with implications in agriculture, biotechnology and food production. Understanding how plants acquire, transport and distribute mineral nutrients helps optimizing plant growth, improving production of sustainable and nutritious crops, and also adapting agricultural practices to soil and ecosystems protection and climate change.

With a balanced nutrition, plants have access to adequate supply of each nutrient at every growth stage. Our work focuses on metal micronutrients (e.g. zinc, iron, cupper), in particular zinc, and how can plants sense and regulate an adequate supply of zinc, or homeostasis. Based on our previous discovery that the transcription factors bZIP19 and bZIP23 from the model Arabidopsis thaliana, are major regulators of zinc homeostasis, with a dual role as zinc sensors and key regulators of the response to zinc deficiency (Figure 1), our main research interests are:

(Mechanistic)
Functional analysis of bZIP19 and bZIP23, at biochemical, structural and physiological levels, to unravel their mode of action at the cell and organism levels.

(Translational)
Identification of F-bZIP homologs and translational approach to crop species (rice, sorghum, tomato, legumes) aiming to improve zinc accumulation (biofortification) through modulation of the F-bZIP’s Zinc Sensor Motif (ZSM).

(Evolution)
Analysis of F-bZIP homologs across land plants, and assessment of the evolutionary history of the zinc deficiency response.

(Adaptation)
Explore the role of F-bZIP transcription factors in the adaptation of plants naturally occurring in soils with toxic levels of heavy metals, namely zinc hyperaccumulator plants.

Our research has shown that F-bZIP-based control of zinc homeostasis is a tractable module for evolutionary and functional studies (reviewed in Assunção 2022, Planta). We continue to advance fundamental knowledge on plant micronutrient regulation, and applying that knowledge to improve the nutritional value of crops (biofortification) and their adaptation to nutrient-poor soils, thus contributing for a more sustainable agriculture and healthier human nutrition.  





Figure 1: A. The zinc deficiency phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type and bzip19 bzip23 (bzip19/23) double knock-out mutant. B, C. Schematic model representing the cellular zinc sensing and deficiency response by the bZIP19 and bZIP23 transcription factors (adapted from Lilay et al. 2021 Nature Plants 7, 137-143 doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00856-7).