Fe sparing in Arabidopsis rosettes

All cells need iron (Fe), which is frequently limiting for life. Plants (like other organisms) have complex strategies for uptake of Fe from their environment. Studies in the green alga Chlamodomonas have demonstrated that these organisms are able to prioritize certain pathways when Fe is limiting, a process called “Fe sparing”. Hantzis et al. used a hydroponic system to investigate Fe sparing in Arabidopsis. They found that “during Fe deficiency specific abundant Fe proteins of the chloroplast such as ferredoxin and the cytochrome-b₆f complex are targeted for down-regulation at the transcript level which has consequences for photosynthesis and other chloroplast metabolism,” with generally milder effects seen for mitochondrial proteins. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Physiol. 10.1104/pp.17.01497