Barley sodium content is regulated by natural variants of the Na+ transporter HvHKT1;5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Barley sodium content is regulated by natural variants of the Na+ transporter HvHKT1;5

AU - Houston, Kelly

AU - Qiu, Jiaen

AU - Wege, Stefanie

AU - Hrmova, Maria

AU - Oakey, Helena

AU - Qu, Yue

AU - Smith, Pauline

AU - Situmorang, Apriadi

AU - Macaulay, Malcolm

AU - Flis, Paulina

AU - Bayer, Micha

AU - Roy, Stuart

AU - Halpin, Claire

AU - Russell, Joanne

AU - Schreiber, Miriam

AU - Byrt, Caitlin

AU - Gilliham, Matt

AU - Salt, David E.

AU - Waugh, Robbie

N1 - R.W., M.S., and M.M. acknowledge support from ERC project 669182 ‘SHUFFLE’ to R.W. K.H., P.S., M.B., J.R., and R.W. acknowledge the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. C.B., J.Q., and Y.Q. acknowledge support from Rutherford Fund Strategic Partner Grants 2018 - Award Reference: RF-2018-30 to C.H. and R.W. S.R. is grateful for financial assistance from The Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Wheat in a Hot and Dry Climate (IH130200027), the Grains Research and Development Corporation (ACP00009) and The Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide. C.B. acknowledges support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the Australian Research Council (FT180100476). We are thankful to the Australian Research Council for funding through CE140100008 to M.G. (J.Q. and Y.Q.), FT180100476 to C.S.B. and DE160100804 to S.W. (A.S.). D.E.S. acknowledges support from BBSRC Grant BB/L000113/1. MH acknowledges financial support from the Huaiyin Normal University, China.

PY - 2020/12

Y1 - 2020/12

N2 - During plant growth, sodium (Na+) in the soil is transported via the xylem from the root to the shoot. While excess Na+ is toxic to most plants, non-toxic concentrations have been shown to improve crop yields under certain conditions, such as when soil K+ is low. We quantified grain Na+ across a barley genome-wide association study panel grown under non-saline conditions and identified variants of a Class 1 HIGH-AFFINITY-POTASSIUM-TRANSPORTER (HvHKT1;5)-encoding gene responsible for Na+ content variation under these conditions. A leucine to proline substitution at position 189 (L189P) in HvHKT1;5 disturbs its characteristic plasma membrane localisation and disrupts Na+ transport. Under low and moderate soil Na+, genotypes containing HvHKT1:5P189 accumulate high concentrations of Na+ but exhibit no evidence of toxicity. As the frequency of HvHKT1:5P189 increases significantly in cultivated European germplasm, we cautiously speculate that this non-functional variant may enhance yield potential in non-saline environments, possibly by offsetting limitations of low available K+.

AB - During plant growth, sodium (Na+) in the soil is transported via the xylem from the root to the shoot. While excess Na+ is toxic to most plants, non-toxic concentrations have been shown to improve crop yields under certain conditions, such as when soil K+ is low. We quantified grain Na+ across a barley genome-wide association study panel grown under non-saline conditions and identified variants of a Class 1 HIGH-AFFINITY-POTASSIUM-TRANSPORTER (HvHKT1;5)-encoding gene responsible for Na+ content variation under these conditions. A leucine to proline substitution at position 189 (L189P) in HvHKT1;5 disturbs its characteristic plasma membrane localisation and disrupts Na+ transport. Under low and moderate soil Na+, genotypes containing HvHKT1:5P189 accumulate high concentrations of Na+ but exhibit no evidence of toxicity. As the frequency of HvHKT1:5P189 increases significantly in cultivated European germplasm, we cautiously speculate that this non-functional variant may enhance yield potential in non-saline environments, possibly by offsetting limitations of low available K+.

KW - Abiotic

KW - Agricultural genetics

KW - Plant genetics

KW - Salt

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85085263863

U2 - 10.1038/s42003-020-0990-5

DO - 10.1038/s42003-020-0990-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 32444849

SN - 2399-3642

VL - 3

SP - 1

EP - 9

JO - Communications Biology

JF - Communications Biology

IS - 1

M1 - 258

ER -