2 - Phosphate, nitrate and polyamine transporters in abiotic stress response in plants

Abstract

Transporters are crucial proteins that facilitate the uptake, mobility, and exclusion of ions and molecules within organisms. Phosphate, nitrate, and polyamines are important metabolites that have varied and well-reported roles as nutrients and also under abiotic stresses like temperature, light, oxidative stress, heavy metal toxicity, etc. This chapter concisely focuses on the involvement and reported roles of the phosphate, nitrate, and polyamine transporters under such stress conditions. We observed that the phosphate transporters regulate the ionome during heat and light stress. Among the three types of transporters, those mobilizing nitrate and polyamines were found to be associated with the stress phytohormone, abscisic acid. Thus, in this chapter, we have overviewed the physiological responses mediated by these transporters in reported plant species and also discussed their roles in generating systemic tolerance against different abiotic stresses.