OpenAlex · 2026-11-20
Scientists identified and characterized a zinc-transporting protein (LbCDF-A) in Laccaria bicolor, a fungus that colonizes tree roots, finding it sits inside a cellular compartment called the endoplasmic reticulum where it likely sequesters or redistributes zinc to keep the fungus — and its tree host — healthy.
LbCDF-A is an ER-localized transporter, making it one of relatively few Cation Diffusion Facilitator proteins in fungi confirmed to reside in the endoplasmic reticulum rather than the cell membrane or vacuole
The protein functions as a zinc transporter in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor, suggesting the ER plays an active role in zinc sequestration or buffering within fungal cells
Functional characterization of LbCDF-A expands the known toolkit of metal homeostasis mechanisms in ectomycorrhizal fungi, with implications for how tree-fungus symbioses tolerate variable zinc availability in forest soils
