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Influx and accumulation of Cs+ by the akt1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. lacking a dominant K+ transport system

Escobar-Guti�rrez, Abraham J.; Willey, Neil J.; Escobar-Gutierrez, A; Broadley, Martin R.; Willey, Neil; Bowen, Helen C.; White, Philip J.

Authors

Abraham J. Escobar-Guti�rrez

Neil J. Willey

A Escobar-Gutierrez

Martin R. Broadley

Neil Willey Neil.Willey@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Env Plant Physiology

Helen C. Bowen

Philip J. White



Abstract

An extensive literature reports that Cs+, an environmental contaminant, enters plant cells through K+ transport systems. Several recently identified plant K+ transport systems are permeable to Cs+. Permeation models indicate that most Cs+ uptake into plant roots under typical soil ionic conditions will be mediated by voltage-insensitive cation (VIC) channels in the plasma membrane and not by the inward rectifying K+ (KIR) channels implicated in plant K nutrition. Cation fluxes through KIR channels are blocked by Cs+. This paper tests directly the hypothesis that the dominant KIR channel in plant roots (AKT1) does not contribute significantly to Cs+ uptake by comparing Cs+ uptake into wild-type and the akt1 knockout mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Wild-type and akt1 plants were grown to comparable size and K+ content on agar containing 10 mM K+. Both Cs+ influx to roots of intact plants and Cs+ accumulation in roots and shoots were identical in wild-type and akt1 plants. These data indicate that AKT1 is unlikely to contribute significantly to Cs+ uptake by wild-type Arabidopsis from 'single-salt' solutions. The influx of Cs+ to roots of intact wild-type and akt1 plants was inhibited by I mM Ba2+, Ca2+ and La3+, but not by 10 μM Br-cAMP. This pharmacology resembles that of VIC channels and is consistent with the hypothesis that VIC channels mediate most Cs+ influx under 'single-salt' conditions.

Citation

Willey, N. J., Escobar-Gutiérrez, A. J., Broadley, M. R., Escobar-Gutierrez, A., Bowen, H. C., Willey, N., & White, P. J. (2001). Influx and accumulation of Cs+ by the akt1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. lacking a dominant K+ transport system. Journal of Experimental Botany, 52(357), 839-844. https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/52.357.839

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2001
Deposit Date Feb 23, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Experimental Botany
Print ISSN 0022-0957
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 52
Issue 357
Pages 839-844
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/52.357.839
Keywords caesium, cation channel, potassium, transport phytoremediation
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1087285
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/52.357.839