rice ABC transporter, OsABCC1, reduces arsenic accumulation in the grain

Significance Contamination of water and foods with arsenic (As) poses a threat to millions of people worldwide. Because the rice grain is the major source of As intake, reducing the transfer of As from soil to the grain is a pressing public health issue. We found that a member of the Oryza sativa C-type ATP-binding cassette transporter (OsABCC) family, OsABCC1, detoxifies As and reduces the amount of As in the rice grain. OsABCC1 in the upper nodes of rice plants restricts the distribution of As to the grain by sequestering it in the vacuoles of the phloem companion cells of diffuse vascular bundles directly connected to the grain. Our work suggests a strategy for limiting As accumulation in rice grains and thereby reducing human As exposure. Arsenic (As) is a chronic poison that causes severe skin lesions and cancer. Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is a major dietary source of As; therefore, reducing As accumulation in the rice grain and thereby diminishing the amount of As that enters the food chain is of critical importance. Here, we report that a member of the Oryza sativa C-type ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter (OsABCC) family, OsABCC1, is involved in the detoxification and reduction of As in rice grains. We found that OsABCC1 was expressed in many organs, including the roots, leaves, nodes, peduncle, and rachis. Expression was not affected when plants were exposed to low levels of As but was up-regulated in response to high levels of As. In both the basal nodes and upper nodes, which are connected to the panicle, OsABCC1 was localized to the phloem region of vascular bundles. Furthermore, OsABCC1 was localized to the tonoplast and conferred phytochelatin-dependent As resistance in yeast. Knockout of OsABCC1 in rice resulted in decreased tolerance to As, but did not affect cadmium toxicity. At the reproductive growth stage, the As content was higher in the nodes and in other tissues of wild-type rice than in those of OsABCC1 knockout mutants, but was significantly lower in the grain. Taken together, our results indicate that OsABCC1 limits As transport to the grains by sequestering As in the vacuoles of the phloem companion cells of the nodes in rice.