Guerinot Lab Identifies Proteins Involved in Photoprotection during Iron Deficiency

Prof. Mary Lou Guerinot, Dr. Garo Akmakjian, Guarini '18 and Nabilia Riaz, Guarini '22 have identified proteins that protect plants during iron deficiency.  Their findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America reveal that IR3L and PYE provide photoprotection for iron-deficient plants.

Iron is an essential micronutrient in plants but not all soils provide bioavailable iron for plant growth.  Understanding how plants protect themselves from photodamage in iron-poor soils may be key to supporting plant growth in suboptimal soils.  In an article for Dartmouth News about these discoveries, Prof. Guerinot stated that "In the future, we won't have the luxury of only growing crops in fertile soils rich in nutrients and with plenty of water."

Publication: Garo Z. Akmakjian, et al., Photoprotection during iron deficiency is mediated by the bHLH transcription factors PYE and ILR3, PNAS (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024918118.  

Original Story Source: Biological Sciences at Dartmouth