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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Analysis of Aluminum and Divalent Cation Binding to Wheat Root Plasma Membrane Proteins Using Terbium Phosphorescence

Climate Stress Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705

A phosphorescent trivalent cation, terbium [Tb(III)], has been used to study the binding of different polyvalent cations to the proteins of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) root plasma membranes. The phosphorescence emission intensity of Tb(III) was enhanced after Tb(III) binding to wheat root plasma membranes as a result of nonradiative resonance energy transfer from the membrane protein tyrosine and phenylalanine residues. Complex, saturable Tb(III) binding was observed, suggesting multiple binding sites. Bound Tb(III) could be displaced by divalent cations in the general order: Mn(II) > Ca(II) > Mg(II). Al(III) was very effective in reducing the protein-enhanced Tb(III) phosphorescence at pH values below 5. Al(III) also altered the Tb(III) phosphorescence lifetime, suggesting Al(III)-induced changes in membrane protein conformation. The more Al(III)-sensitive wheat cultivar (Anza) bound Al(III) with higher affinity than the more tolerant cultivar (BH 1146). At pH 5.5 where Al(III) did not displace bound Tb(III), low levels of Al(III) reduced the ability of Mn(II) to decrease Tb(III) phosphorescence. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to the mechanisms of Al(III) tolerance in wheat and the potential beneficial effects of Al(III) in reducing Mn(II) phytotoxicity.