
Research Team Explains How Plants Can Grow on Saline Soils
July 20, 2016 |
Scientists from the University of Würzburg in Germany have examined how plants regulate their salt intake. Salt consists of the cation sodium and the anion chloride. Higher doses of chloride in saline soils have toxic effects on plant development. However, plants need the anion nitrate as a nitrogen source to build proteins and multiply their DNA. Würzburg plant scientists Dietmar Geiger and Rainer Hedrich studied whether and how plants are capable of distinguishing between the nutrient nitrate and the harmful chloride.
The researchers identified the two anion channels SLAH1 and SLAH3 found in plant cells, which are responsible for regulating the passage of nitrate and chloride. Working with a Spanish group, the scientists studied genetically modified plants in which SLAH1 or SLAH3 is missing. The sap of these plants ascending to the shoot only contained half the amount of chloride ions. The nitrate content, however, remained unchanged, giving the conclusion that both anion channels regulate the entry of chloride into the shoot.
The researchers found SLAH1 incapable of conducting anions, and SLAH3 mainly conducts nitrate. The contradiction between the nitrate and chloride contents in the sample plants and in the genetically modified plants was resolved when the two anion channels were brought together, forming a functional complex. Each time SLAH1 enters the complex, the anion filter in SLAH3 will switch from nitrate to chloride and vice versa. The role of this switch was determined by the Spanish team. They observed that the higher the salt load the roots of the sample plants were exposed to, the more SLAH1 was withdrawn from the anion channel complex. In the process, the chloride-conducting complex gradually evolves into a nitrate-conducting status, allowing the plant to maintain its nitrate intake as a vital source of nitrogen without taking damage by the salinization-related increase in chloride concentration.
For more details, read the news release at the University of Würzburg website.
|
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- FAO Seeks to Bridge Gap between Agri and Forestry to Improve Food Security
- BecA Director Asks Scientists to Tell the World about their Research
- Kenyan Senator Urges Adoption of GM Crops in the Country
- Scientists Share Advances in Alfalfa Genome Research
- U.S. House of Representatives Passes GM Food Labeling Bill
- Herbicide Resistance Predates GM Crops, Says Weed Scientists
- Research Team Explains How Plants Can Grow on Saline Soils
- International Team of Scientists Release Whole Genomes and Epigenomes of More than 1,000 Arabidopsis Plants
-
Research Highlights
- SAPK9 Improves Drought Tolerance and Grain Yield in Rice
- Agrobacterium rhizogenes Genes Induce Dwarfism in Arabidopsis
- Overexpression of Alfalfa TMT Increases α-Tocopherol content in Arabidopsis Seeds
-
Beyond Crop Biotech
- Scientists to Harness Plant Microbiome to Improve Food Supply
- Researchers Develop First Step Toward Controlled Gene Therapy
- GM Mosquitoes Reduce Dengue Fever Cases by 91% in Piracicaba, Brazil
-
Announcements
- 2nd International and 14th National Iranian Crop Science Congress
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (February 12, 2025)
- Gene Editing Supplement (February 12, 2025)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet