Arsenite Antiporter PvACR3 Driven by Its Native Promoter Increases Leaf Arsenic Accumulation in Tobacco

Pteris vittata is the first-reported arsenic (As) hyperaccumulator, which has been applied to phytoremediation of As-contaminated soil. PvACR3, a key arsenite (AsIII) antiporter, plays an important role in As hyperaccumulation in P. vittata. However, its functions in plants are not fully understood. In this study, the PvACR3 gene was heterologously expressed in tobacco, driven by its native promoter (Pro). After growing at 5 μM AsIII or 10 μM AsV in hydroponics for 1-5 days, PvACR3-expression enhanced the As levels in leaves by 66.4-113 and 51.8-101%, without impacting the As contents in the roots or stems. When cultivated in As-contaminated soil, PvACR3-expressed transgenic plants accumulated 47.9-85.5% greater As in the leaves than wild-type plants. In addition, PvACR3-expression increased the As resistance in transgenic tobacco, showing that enhanced leaf As levels are not detrimental to its overall As tolerance. PvACR3 was mainly expressed in tobacco leaf veins and was likely to unload AsIII from the vein xylem vessels to the mesophyll cells, thus elevating the leaf As levels. This work demonstrates that heterologously expressing PvACR3 under its native promoter specifically enhances leaf As accumulation in tobacco, which helps to reveal the As-hyperaccumulation mechanism in P. vittata and to enhance the As accumulation in plant leaves for phytoremediation.