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

Houston, Kelly; Qiu, Jiaen; Wege, Stefanie; Hrmova, Maria; Oakey, Helena; Qu, Yue; Smith, Pauline; Situmorang, Apriadi; Macaulay, Malcolm; Flis, Paulina; Bayer, Micha; Roy, Stuart; Halpin, Claire; Russell, Joanne; Schreiber, Miriam; Byrt, Caitlin; Gilliham, Matt; Salt, David E.; Waugh, Robbie

Abstract

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+.

Citation

Houston, K., Qiu, J., Wege, S., Hrmova, M., Oakey, H., Qu, Y., …Waugh, R. (2020). Barley sodium content is regulated by natural variants of the Na+ transporter HvHKT1;5. Communications Biology, 3, Article 258. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0990-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 28, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 22, 2020
• Publication Date: May 22, 2020
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 27, 2020
• Journal: Communications Biology
• Electronic ISSN: 2399-3642
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Article Number: 258
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0990-5
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4500870
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0990-5
• Additional Information: Received: 15 January 2020; Accepted: 28 April 2020; First Online: 22 May 2020; : The authors declare no competing interests.