Rice plants take up iron as an Fe 3+ ‐phytosiderophore and as Fe 2+

Only graminaceous monocots possess the Strategy II iron (Fe)-uptake system in which Fe is absorbed by roots as an Fe3+-phytosiderophore. In spite of being a Strategy II plant, however, rice (Oryza sativa) contains the previously identified Fe2+ transporter OsIRT1. In this study, we isolated the OsIRT2 gene from rice, which is highly homologous to OsIRT1. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that OsIRT1 and OsIRT2 are expressed predominantly in roots, and these transporters are induced by low-Fe conditions. When expressed in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells, OsIRT2 cDNA reversed the growth defects of a yeast Fe-uptake mutant. This was similar to the effect of OsIRT1 cDNA. OsIRT1- and OsIRT2-green fluorescent…