The twins K+ and Na+ in plants.
2014
Benito, Begoña | Haro, Rosario | Amtmann, Anna | Cuin, Tracey Ann | Dreyer, Ingo | Centro de Biotecnologıa y Genomica de Plantas ; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) | Plant Sci Grp, Inst Mol Cell & Syst Biol, Coll Med Vet & Life Sci ; University of Glasgow | Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes (BPMP) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro)
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Show more [+] Less [-]English. In the earth's crust and in seawater, K(+) and Na(+) are by far the most available monovalent inorganic cations. Physico-chemically, K(+) and Na(+) are very similar, but K(+) is widely used by plants whereas Na(+) can easily reach toxic levels. Indeed, salinity is one of the major and growing threats to agricultural production. In this article, we outline the fundamental bases for the differences between Na(+) and K(+). We present the foundation of transporter selectivity and summarize findings on transporters of the HKT type, which are reported to transport Na(+) and/or Na(+) and K(+), and may play a central role in Na(+) utilization and detoxification in plants. Based on the structural differences in the hydration shells of K(+) and Na(+), and by comparison with sodium channels, we present an ad hoc mechanistic model that can account for ion permeation through HKTs.
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