Advances in the HAK/KUP/KT Potassium Transporter Family in Regulating Na+/K+ Homeostasis and Salt Tolerance in Plants

Clicks: 1
ID: 319273
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #180 of 193 articles by views in Annals of botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 193 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Soil salinization severely threatens global agricultural sustainability. A key physiological mechanism underpinning plant salt tolerance is the maintenance of Na+/K+ homeostasis. The HAK/KUP/KT family of high-affinity potassium transporters plays a central role in plant responses to both potassium deficiency and salinity stress. This review systematically outlines the classification, evolutionary relationships, and functional specialization of this transporter family across diverse plant species. We focus on the multi-layered regulatory network that sustains Na+/K+ balance under salt stress, including calcium signaling transduced through the CBL-CIPK module, transcriptional control by transcription factors and epigenetic modifications, and post-translational regulation via phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and dynamic trafficking. Recent functional analyses in crops and woody plants highlight functional diversity and adaptive evolution. Notably, certain transporters from halophytes exhibit specialized roles that, when expressed in glycophytes, can paradoxically reduce salt tolerance, underscoring species-specific functional divergence. As a central hub integrating potassium nutrition and stress signaling, the HAK/KUP/KT family represents a promising target for genetic improvement. Future strategies employing gene editing, synthetic promoters, and synthetic biology hold promise for developing salt-tolerant, high-yielding crop varieties.
Reference Key
openalex_W7166815183 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Linhuan Wu, J J, Y ZHANG, Xuan Zhang, Jianli Yang, Huihui Zhu
Journal Annals of botany
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/aob/mcag193
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag193
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.