Journal
PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR
Volume 5, Issue 7, Pages 792-795Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.4161/psb.5.7.11767
Keywords
NHX exchangers; vacuole; sodium; potassium; salinity; nutrition
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology [BIO2009-08641, CSD2007-00057]
- C.S.I.C
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Potassium (K+) is a major osmoticum of plant cells, and the vacuolar accumulation of this element is an 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.
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