These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: How do vacuolar NHX exchangers function in plant salt tolerance?
    Author: Jiang X, Leidi EO, Pardo JM.
    Journal: Plant Signal Behav; 2010 Jul; 5(7):792-5. PubMed ID: 20495345.
    Abstract:
    Potassium (K(+)) is a major osmoticum of plant cells, and the vacuolar accumulation of this element is a especially crucial feature for plants under high-salt conditions. Emerging evidence indicates that cation/proton transporters of the NHX family are instrumental in the H(+)-linked K(+) transport that mediate active K(+) uptake at the tonoplast for the unequal partitioning of K(+) between vacuole and cytosol. However, and in spite of tenuous supporting evidence, NHX proteins are widely regarded as key players in the sequestration of sodium (Na(+)) into vacuoles to avert ion toxicity in the cytosol of plants under salinity stress. Here, we propose an updated model positing that NHX proteins fulfill a protective function to minimize salt-related stress mainly through the vacuolar compartmentalization of K(+) and, in some cases, of Na(+) as well thereby preventing toxic Na(+)-K(+) ratios in the cytosol while accruing solutes for osmotic balance.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]