Ion Channels and Plant Stress: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Perhaps the most significant change in plant electrophysiological studies that began some 25 years ago was a shift in focus from more basic electrical and biophysical properties of plant membranes to pursuing the understanding of the plant physiological and cell biological functions of individual plant ion channel types. In the 1990s, ion channels were characterized as targets of upstream signal transduction mechanisms, and in the later 1990s powerful combined molecular genetics, patch clamp, and plant physiological response analyses further manifested the importance of ion channels for many biological and stress responses of plants. Essential metals and ions in the intracellular and intraorganellar spaces of plant cells contribute to the activities of regulatory proteins, signal transduction, and to the maintenance of turgor pressure, osmoregulation, toxic metal chelation, and membrane potential control. A large number of studies on mineral nutrition have sustained the profitable cultivation of plant growth and development, and provided important knowledge on plant physiological mechanism of absorption of minerals from soils. Abiotic stress and biotic stresses are a global problem for plant growth in agricultural and noncultivated lands. Ion channels in plant cells play crucial functions in adapting to and overcoming abiotic and biotic stresses. Plant membrane transport systems play an important role not only in the uptake of nutrients from the soil but also in the adaptation to stress and environmental change.