Membrane transport, sensing and signaling in plant adaptation to environmental ...

• Author(s): Conde, Artur ; Chaves, M. Manuela ; Gerós, H.
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/13498
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Compatible solute; Environmental stress; Ion homeostasis; Membrane transport; Proton pumps; Sensing and signaling
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Plant and Cell Physiology following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version (Conde A, Chaves MM, Gerós H. 2011. Membrane transport, sensing and signaling in plant adaptation to environmental stress. Plant Cell Physiol. in press. doi: 10.1093/pcp/pcr107) is available online at: http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/08/08/pcp.pcr107.abstract Plants are generally well adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. Even though they have notably prospered in our planet, stressful conditions such as salinity, drought and cold or heat, which are increasingly being observed worldwide in the context of the ongoing climate changes, limit their growth and productivity. Behind the remarkable ability of plants to cope with these stresses and still thrive, sophisticated and efficient mechanisms to re-establish and maintain ion and cellular homeostasis are involved. Among the plant arsenal to keep homeostasis are efficient stress sensing and signaling mechanisms, plant cell detoxification systems, compatible solute and osmoprotectant accumulation and a vital rearrangement of solute transport and compartmentation. The key role of solute transport systems and signaling proteins in cellular homeostasis is addressed in the present work. The full understanding of the plant cell complex defense mechanisms under stress may allow for the engineering of more tolerant plants or the optimization of cultivation practices to improve yield and productivity, which is crucial in the present time as food resources are progressively scarce.