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Molecular Plant Advance Access published online on June 27, 2008
Molecular Plant, doi:10.1093/mp/ssn031
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© The Author 2008. Published by the Molecular Plant Shanghai Editorial Office in association with Oxford University Press on behalf of CSPP and IPPE, SIBS, CAS.

A Mitochondrial Magnesium Transporter Functions in Arabidopsis Pollen Development

Le-Gong Lia,b,1,2, Lubomir N. Sokolovb,c,2, Yong-Hua Yangb,c,2, Dong-Ping Lid, Julie Tingb, Girdhar K. Pandyb and Sheng Luanb,d,1

a College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100037, China
b Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
c NJU–NJFU Joint Institute for Plant Molecular Biology, College of life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
d College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, China

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail sluan{at}nature.berkeley.edu lgli11242006{at}gmail.com, fax (510) 642-4995 or 86–10–68981191, tel. (510) 642-6306 or 86–10–68902593.

Magnesium is an abundant divalent cation in plant cells and plays a critical role in many physiological processes. We have previously described the identification of a 10-member Arabidopsis gene family encoding putative magnesium transport (MGT) proteins. Here, we report that a member of the MGT family, AtMGT5, functions as a dual-functional Mg-transporter that operates in a concentration-dependent manner, namely it serves as a Mg-importer at micromolar levels and facilitates the efflux in the millimolar range. The AtMGT5 protein is localized in the mitochondria, suggesting that AtMGT5 mediates Mg-trafficking between the cytosol and mitochondria. The AtMGT5 gene was exclusively expressed in anthers at early stages of flower development. Examination of two independent T-DNA insertional mutants of AtMGT5 gene demonstrated that AtMGT5 played an essential role for pollen development and male fertility. This study suggests a critical role for Mg2+ transport between cytosol and mitochondria in male gametogenesis in plants.

Key Words: Mg2+-transporter • pollen • mitochondria • Arabidopsis

2 These authors contributed equally to this work.


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