Volume 34, No 4, Apr 2024

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 34 Issue 4, April 2024: 281-294   |  Open Access

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

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

Zhong Jie Ding^1,† , Chen Xu^1,2,† , Jing Ying Yan³ , Yu Xuan Wang¹ , Meng Qi Cui¹ , Jun Jie Yuan¹ , Ya Nan Wang¹ , Gui Xin Li⁴ , Jian Xiang Wu⁴ , Yun Rong Wu¹ , Ji Ming Xu¹ , Chun Xiao Li¹ , Yuan Zhi Shi⁵ , Chuan Zao Mao¹ , Jiang Tao Guo⁶ , Jian Min Zhou⁷ , Moussa Benhamed⁸ , Nicholas P. Harberd^1,9 , Shao Jian Zheng^1,2,10,*

¹State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
²Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
³Agricultural Experimental Station, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
⁴State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
⁵Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
⁶Medical School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
⁷Center for Genome Biology and State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
⁸Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRAE, Univ Evry, Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), Orsay, France
⁹Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
¹⁰Institute of Ecological Civilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
^†These authors contributed equally: Zhong Jie Ding, Chen Xu
Correspondence: Shao Jian Zheng(sjzheng@zju.edu.cn)

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.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-023-00915-y

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