New Nutrient Uptake Mechanism Discovered

U.S. biologists say they’ve discovered a new way by which plant cells govern nutrient regulation.

The Carnegie Institution’s Department of Plant Biology in Stanford, Calif., said pore-like structures at the cell’s surface physically interact to control the uptake of nitrogen.

The researchers said their finding marks the first time scientists have discovered the interaction of neighboring molecules is essential to a plant’s nutrient regulation.

And since plants, animals, bacteria and fungi all share similar genes for such activity, the scientists believe that the same feature could occur across species. That, scientists said, means the discovery has widespread potential –from understanding human diseases, such as kidney function, to engineering better crops.

Every cell in every organism has a system for bringing in nutrition and expelling waste, explained lead author Dominique Loque. Some are through pore-like protein structures called transporters, which reside at the surface of the cell’s outer membrane. Each pore is capable of transporting nutrients individually, so we were really surprised to find the pores simply can’t act without stimulation from their neighbors.

The research is detailed in the on-line edition of the journal Nature.