Iron-induced nitric oxide leads to an increase in the expression of ferritin during the senescence of Lotus japonicus nodules.

Iron is an essential nutrient for legume-rhizobium symbiosis and accumulates abundantly in the nodules. However, the concentration of free iron in the cells is strictly controlled to avoid toxicity. It is known that ferritin accumulates in the cells as an iron storage protein. During nodule senescence, the expression of the ferritin gene, Ljfer1, was induced in Lotus japonicus. We investigated a signal transduction pathway leading to the increase of Ljfer1 in the nodule. The Ljfer1 promoter of L. japonicus contains a conserved Iron-Dependent Regulatory Sequence (IDRS). The expression of Ljfer1 was induced by the application of iron or sodium nitroprusside, which is a nitric oxide (NO) donor. The application of iron to the nodule increased the level of NO. These data strongly suggest that iron-induced NO leads to increased expression of Ljfer1 during the senescence of L. japonicus nodules.