%0 Journal Article
%T Correlation of Aquaporins and Transmembrane Solute Transporters Revealed by Genome-Wide Analysis in Developing Maize Leaf
%A Xun Yue
%A XiangYu Zhao
%A YuKui Fei
%A Xiansheng Zhang
%J International Journal of Genomics
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/546930
%X Aquaporins are multifunctional membrane channels that facilitate the transmembrane transport of water and solutes. When transmembrane mineral nutrient transporters exhibit the same expression patterns as aquaporins under diverse temporal and physiological conditions, there is a greater probability that they interact. In this study, genome-wide temporal profiling of transcripts analysis and coexpression network-based approaches are used to examine the significant specificity correlation of aquaporins and transmembrane solute transporters in developing maize leaf. The results indicate that specific maize aquaporins are related to specific transmembrane solute transporters. The analysis demonstrates a systems-level correlation between aquaporins, nutrient transporters, and the homeostasis of mineral nutrients in developing maize leaf. Our results provide a resource for further studies into the physiological function of these aquaporins. 1. Introduction Water can take different paths on its way through the leaf, in addition to radial water flux, water movement across leaf cell membranes is important for water homeostasis, increasing cell volume, maintaining turgor during expansion, regulating the opening and closure of stomata, and controlling leaf movement [1]. Water movement through cell membranes is facilitated by water channels called aquaporins. Plant aquaporins exhibit multiplicity and diversity, and fall into seven subfamilies loosely based on intracellular locations and sequence similarities: the plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), NOD26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), small, basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs), the GlpF-like intrinsic proteins (GIPs), hybrid intrinsic proteins (HIP), and the uncategorized X intrinsic proteins (XIP) [2]. Plant aquaporins are significant not only in plant-water relations, but also in physiological aspects such as nutrient transport and metal/metalloid toxicity [3, 4]. Flexas et al. provided evidence for the in vivo involvement of NtAQP1 in mesophyll CO2 conductance, suggesting a significant role for PIPs in CO2 diffusivity [5]. Ludewig and Dynowski have shown that AtTIP1;1 and AtTIP1;2 conduct H2O2 when heterologously expressed in yeast [6]. Azad et al. described TgTIP1;1- and TgTIP1;2-mediated H2O2 conductance by fluorescence assay in Tulipa gesneriana. Recent studies have investigated the selectivity mechanisms of aquaporins, nutrient transporters and homeostasis of mineral nutrients in most plant groups [7]. Hove and Bhave performed a comprehensive analysis of all plant
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijg/2012/546930/