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A Grain of Salt

Houston, K.; Qiu, J.; Wege, S.; Hmrova, M.; Oakey, H.; Qu, Y.; Smith, P.; Situmorang, A.; Macaulay, M.; Flis, P.; Bayer, M.; Roy, S.; Halpin, C.; Russell, J.; Byrt, C.; Gilliham, M. J.; Salt, D. E.; Waugh, R.

2020-01-23 genetics
10.1101/2020.01.23.916742 bioRxiv
Show abstract

We quantified grain sodium (Na+) content across a barley GWAS panel grown under optimal conditions. We identified a strong association with a region containing two low and one high Na+ accumulating haplotypes of a Class 1 HIGH-AFFINITY POTASSIUM TRANSPORTER (HKT1;5) known to be involved in regulating plant Na+ homeostasis. The haplotypes exhibited an average 1.8-fold difference in grain Na+ content. We show that an L189P substitution disrupts Na+ transport in the high Na+ lines, disturbs the plasma membrane localisation typical of HKT1;5 and induces a conformational change in the protein predicted to compromise function. Under NaCl stress, lines containing P189 accumulate high levels of Na+, but show no significant difference in biomass. P189 increases in frequency from wild-species to elite cultivars leading us to speculate that the compromised haplotype is undergoing directional selection possibly due to the value of Na+ as a functional nutrient in non-saline environments.

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