Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Slo1

Title: The Arabidopsis nitrate transporter NPF7.3/NRT1.5 is involved in lateral root development under potassium deprivation.

Authors: Yue Zheng, Navina Drechsler, Christine Rausch, Reinhard Kunze

Journal, date & volume: Plant Signal Behav, 2016 May 3 , 11, e1176819

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27089248

Abstract
Plants have evolved a large array of transporters and channels that are responsible for uptake, source-to-sink distribution, homeostasis and signaling of nitrate (NO3(-)), which is for most plants the primary nitrogen source and a growth-limiting macronutrient. To optimize NO3(-) uptake in response to changing NO3(-) concentrations in the soil, plants are able to modify their root architecture. Potassium is another macronutrient that influences the root architecture. We recently demonstrated that the Arabidopsis NO3(-) transporter NPF7.3/NRT1.5, which drives root-to-shoot transport of NO3(-), is also involved in root-to-shoot translocation of K(+) under low NO3(-) nutrition. Here, we show that K(+) shortage, but not limiting NO3(-) supply, causes in nrt1.5 mutant plants an altered root architecture with conspicuously reduced lateral root density. Since lateral root development is influenced by auxin, we discuss a possible involvement of NPF7.3/NRT1.5 in auxin homeostasis in roots under K(+) deprivation.