Abstract
Aquaporins (AQPs) are universal membrane integrated water channel proteins that selectively and reversibly facilitate the movement of water, gases, metalloids, and other small neutral solutes across cellular membranes in living organisms. Compared with other organisms, plants have the largest number of AQP members with diverse characteristics, subcellular localizations and substrate permeabilities. AQPs play important roles in plant water relations, cell turgor pressure maintenance, the hydraulic regulation of roots and leaves, and in leaf transpiration, root water uptake, and plant responses to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. They are also required for plant growth and development. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the expression and roles of diverse AQPs in the growth and development of various vegetative and reproductive organs in plants. The functions of AQPs in the intracellular translocation of hydrogen peroxide are also discussed.
Highlights
Aquaporins (AQPs) are ubiquitous membrane channel proteins that selectively and reversibly facilitate water movement across plasmalemma and organelle membranes in plants and other organisms [1,2]
AQPs form homo- or hetero-tetramer pores, and each of the four subunits can generate a water channel pore for permeability of substrate molecules [2,3,8]. Based on their intracellular locations and sequence similarities, AQPs are categorized into five major subfamilies in higher plants: the plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), nodulin 26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs) and uncategorized intrinsic proteins (XIPs) [12]
These results demonstrate that the transcriptional changes in HvTIP3;1, which are tightly controlled by GAs and abscisic acid (ABA), are important for vacuolation and seed germination
Summary
Aquaporins (AQPs) are ubiquitous membrane channel proteins that selectively and reversibly facilitate water movement across plasmalemma and organelle membranes in plants and other organisms [1,2]. AQPs form homo- or hetero-tetramer pores, and each of the four subunits can generate a water channel pore for permeability of substrate molecules [2,3,8]. Based on their intracellular locations and sequence similarities, AQPs are categorized into five major subfamilies in higher plants: the plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), nodulin 26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs) and uncategorized intrinsic proteins (XIPs) [12]. The localizations, substrate permeability, properties and regulations of AQPs in plants have been widely reviewed in recent years [2,20,21]
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