Increased tolerance to low K+, and to cationic stress of Arabidopsis plants by expressing the F130S mutant version of the K+ transporter AtHAK5

Potassium (K+) selectivity of high-affinity K+ uptake systems is crucial for plant growth under low K+ and in the presence of inhibitors of K+ uptake that are toxic to plants such as Na+ or Cs+. Here, we express a mutated version of the Arabidopsis AtHAK5 high-affinity K+ transporter consisting on a change of phenylalanine 130 to serine (F130S) in athak5 akt1 double mutant plants. F130S-expressing plants show better growth, increased K+ uptake from low external concentrations and higher K+ contents when grown at low K+ (10 μM) and when grown at low K+ in the presence of Na+ (15 mM) or Cs+ (1 μM). In addition, these plants accumulate less Na+ and Cs+, resulting in lower Na+/K+ and Cs+/K+ ratios, which are important determinants of plant tolerance to salt stress and to Cs+-polluted soils. Structure analysis of AtHAK5 suggest that the F130 residue approaches the intracellular gate of the K+ tunnel of AtHAK5, affecting somehow its ionic selectivity. Modification of transport systems has a large potential to face challenges of future agriculture such as sustainable production under abiotic stress conditions imposed by climate change.