Exploring the importance of sulfate transporters and ATP sulphurylases for selenium hyperaccumulation—a comparison of Stanleya pinnata and Brassica juncea (Brassicaceae)

Selenium (Se) hyperaccumulation, the capacity of some species to concentrate Se to levels upwards of 0.1% of dry weight, is an intriguing phenomenon that is only partially understood. Questions that remain to be answered are: do hyperaccumulators have one or more Se-specific transporters? How are these regulated by Se and sulfur (S)? In this study, hyperaccumulator Stanleya pinnata was compared with related non-hyperaccumulator Brassica juncea with respect to S-dependent selenate uptake and translocation, as well as for the expression levels of three sulfate/selenate transporters (Sultr) and three ATP sulphurylases (APS). Selenium accumulation went down ~10-fold with increasing sulfate supply in B. juncea, while S. pinnata only had a 2–3-fold difference in Se uptake between the highest (5 mM) and lowest sulfate (0 mM) treatments. The Se/S ratio was generally higher in the hyperaccumulator than the non-hyperaccumulator, and while tissue Se/S ratio in B. juncea largely reflected the ratio in the growth medium, S. pinnata enriched itself up to 5-fold with Se relative to S. The transcript levels of Sultr1;2 and 2;1 and APS1, 2, and 4 were generally much higher in S. pinnata than B. juncea, and the species showed differential transcript responses to S and Se supply. These results indicate that S. pinnata has at least one transporter with significant selenate specificity over sulfate. Also, the hyperaccumulator has elevated expression levels of several sulfate/selenate transporters and APS enzymes, which likely contribute to the Se hyperaccumulation and hypertolerance phenotype.