Research on iron carriers
Gramineous plants excrete the mugeneic acids (MAs)-
like phytosiderophores, a kind of nonprotein amino
acids, that have six functional genes chelating iron, and
form the stable octahedral ferric-chelated [Fe3+-MAs]
[14]. Gene localizing and cloning of MA-like phytosiderophores
is a successful example of researches on root
secretion. It has been proved that the secretion of the
MA-like phytosiderophores is controlled by 52 and
53kD peptides, differential cDNA (Ids1, Ids2, Ids7)
induced by iron deficiency has been identified, and
cloned Ids1, Ids2, Ids3 have been sequenced successfully
[15]. The research group of Mori at Tokyo University
has separated and identified the genes controlling the