Chapter 24 - Regulation of cation transports and cation homeostasis in higher plants

Abstract

The mechanisms responsible for the ability of plants to sense cation status and transport upon their availability, and then maintain subsequent ion homeostasis in cells, are essential processes for plant growth and survival. Many transcriptional regulatory components of cation transports were identified during the past decade through large-scale transcriptome analyses, including the use of microarrays. Although many of the regulatory mechanisms are still unknown, a variety of transcription factors, including Myb, WRKY, bZIP, and helix-loop-helix transcription factors have been identified that regulate cation transporters and downstream signal cascades. Among them, bHLH transcription factors comprise the homodimers and heterodimers formed with other bHLH transcription factors that broadly control the expression of cation transporters that respond to cation availability. This chapter summarizes the transcriptional regulatory components that regulate potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, and aluminum transport and homeostasis in plants.