Overexpression of the potassium channel TPKb in small vacuoles confers osmotic and drought tolerance to rice

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Ahmad, I., Devonshire, J., Mohamed, R., Schulze, M. and Maathuis, F. J. M. 2016. Overexpression of the potassium channel TPKb in small vacuoles confers osmotic and drought tolerance to rice. New Phytologist. 209 (3), pp. 1040-1048. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13708

AuthorsAhmad, I., Devonshire, J., Mohamed, R., Schulze, M. and Maathuis, F. J. M.
Abstract

Potassium (K+) is the most important cationic nutrient for all living organisms. Vacuolar two-pore K+ (TPK) channels are important players in the regulation of cellular levels of K+ but have not been characterised in rice. In order to assess the role of OsTPKb, a K+ selective ion channel predominantly expressed in the tonoplast of small vacuoles, we generated overexpressing (OX) lines using a constitutive promoter and compared their phenotypes with control plants. Relative to control plants, OX lines showed better growth when exposed to low-K+ or water stress conditions. K+ uptake was greater in OX lines which may be driven by increased AKT1 and HAK1 activity. The enhanced K+ uptake led to tissue K+ levels that were raised in roots and shoots. Furthermore, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses showed a higher cytoplasm: vacuole K+ ratio which is likely to contribute to the increased stress tolerance. In all, the data suggest that TPKb can alter the K+ status of small vacuoles, which is important for general cellular K+ homeostasis which, in turn, affects stress tolerance.

KeywordsPlant Sciences
Year of Publication2016
JournalNew Phytologist
Journal citation209 (3), pp. 1040-1048
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13708
PubMed ID26474307
Open accessPublished as bronze (free) open access
Funder project or codeProject: C5610
Publisher's version
PublisherWiley
ISSN0028-646X

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