HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 confer drought tolerance in barley through enhanced leaf mesophyll H+ homoeostasis.

ABSTRACT: Plant K+ uptake typically consists low-affinity mechanisms mediated by Shaker K+ channels (AKT/KAT/KC) and high-affinity mechanisms regulated by HAK/KUP/KT transporters, which are extensively studied. However, the evolutionary and genetic roles of both K+ uptake mechanisms for drought tolerance are not fully explored in crops adapted to dryland agriculture. Here, we employed evolutionary bioinformatics, biotechnological and electrophysiological approaches to determine the role of two important K+ transporters HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 in drought tolerance in barley. HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 were cloned and functionally characterized using barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing (BSMV-VIGS) in drought-tolerant wild barley XZ5 and agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer in the barley cultivar Golden

SUBMITTER: Feng X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7336388 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature