TY - JOUR
T1 - More Transporters, More Substrates
T2 - The Arabidopsis Major Facilitator Superfamily Revisited
AU - Niño-González, María
AU - Novo-Uzal, Esther
AU - Richardson, Dale N.
AU - Barros, Pedro M.
AU - Duque, Paula
PY - 2019/9/2
Y1 - 2019/9/2
N2 - The Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) is ubiquitous in living organisms and represents the largest group of secondary active membrane transporters. In plants, significant research efforts have focused on the role of specific families within the MFS, particularly those transporting macronutrients (C, N, and P) that constitute the vast majority of the members of this superfamily. Other MFS families remain less explored, although a plethora of additional substrates and physiological functions have been uncovered. Nevertheless, the lack of a systematic approach to analyzing the MFS as a whole has obscured the high diversity and versatility of these transporters. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of all annotated MFS domain-containing proteins encoded in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome and propose that this superfamily of transporters consists of 218 members, clustered in 22 families. In reviewing the available information regarding the diversity in biological functions and substrates of Arabidopsis MFS members, we provide arguments for intensified research on these membrane transporters to unveil the breadth of their physiological relevance, disclose the molecular mechanisms underlying their mode of action, and explore their biotechnological potential. Individual families within the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) of transporters have been significantly studied in plants without a comprehensive view of the superfamily. We performed a detailed phylogenetic analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana MFS and report an updated composition of 218 members grouped into 22 families, for which we review the available data, uncovering the high diversity and versatility of these membrane transporters.
AB - The Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) is ubiquitous in living organisms and represents the largest group of secondary active membrane transporters. In plants, significant research efforts have focused on the role of specific families within the MFS, particularly those transporting macronutrients (C, N, and P) that constitute the vast majority of the members of this superfamily. Other MFS families remain less explored, although a plethora of additional substrates and physiological functions have been uncovered. Nevertheless, the lack of a systematic approach to analyzing the MFS as a whole has obscured the high diversity and versatility of these transporters. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of all annotated MFS domain-containing proteins encoded in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome and propose that this superfamily of transporters consists of 218 members, clustered in 22 families. In reviewing the available information regarding the diversity in biological functions and substrates of Arabidopsis MFS members, we provide arguments for intensified research on these membrane transporters to unveil the breadth of their physiological relevance, disclose the molecular mechanisms underlying their mode of action, and explore their biotechnological potential. Individual families within the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) of transporters have been significantly studied in plants without a comprehensive view of the superfamily. We performed a detailed phylogenetic analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana MFS and report an updated composition of 218 members grouped into 22 families, for which we review the available data, uncovering the high diversity and versatility of these membrane transporters.
KW - Arabidopsis thaliana
KW - membrane transport
KW - MFS transporters
KW - phylogenetic analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071328760&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.molp.2019.07.003
DO - 10.1016/j.molp.2019.07.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31330327
AN - SCOPUS:85071328760
VL - 12
SP - 1182
EP - 1202
JO - Molecular Plant
JF - Molecular Plant
SN - 1674-2052
IS - 9
ER -