How stalk cells provide for salt bladder-based salinity tolerance to quinoa.
Biophysics
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Plant Cultivation, Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Technology
Final Report Abstract
Salt Tolerance in Quinoa: How Salk Cells Help the Plant to Survive in Salty Soils With climate change and the global spread of saline soils, agriculture is challenged to develop productive and resilient crops. Quinoa, an ancient pseudo-cereal from South America, stands out as a beacon of hope: it thrives in salty soils thanks to a unique mechanism that protects its tissues from salt stress. The secret lies in tiny “salt bladders” (epidermal bladder cells, EBCs) covering its leaves—and, crucially, in so-called stalk cells that connect these bladders with the inner leaf. Scientists from Germany and international partners have now comprehensively investigated the role of these stalk cells. Using cutting-edge techniques from cell biology, genetics and electrophysiology, they discovered that stalk cells act as highly specialized “gatekeepers”: They control which ions (like sodium and chloride), nutrients and sugars are specifically transported from the leaf into the bladders, where they are safely stored. This protects vital leaf tissues and the plant’s ability to photosynthesize from salt damage. The studies showed that the stalk cells have a particularly active energy metabolism and possess a unique spectrum of transport proteins that are functionally coordinated and aligned with each other. This polarization ensures that ions enter the salt vesicles in a “one-way street”, while undesired return flows are prevented. It is remarkable that precisely this mechanism - selective, active ion transport by specialized stalk cells - has not yet been found in conventional crops. The new findings therefore form the basis for understanding salt tolerance in crops and transferring this to other crops in the future. In the long term, this could lead to the breeding of plants that grow on salty soils and produce reliable harvests - an important step towards food security worldwide. This project exemplifies how research on seemingly exotic plants can bring about real-world innovations for agriculture and climate change resilience—and also demonstrates how basic cell biology and applied plant breeding can work hand in hand.
Publications
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Stalk cell polar ion transport provide for bladder‐based salinity tolerance in Chenopodium quinoa. New Phytologist, 235(5), 1822-1835.
Bazihizina, Nadia; Böhm, Jennifer; Messerer, Maxim; Stigloher, Christian; Müller, Heike M.; Cuin, Tracey Ann; Maierhofer, Tobias; Cabot, Joan; Mayer, Klaus F. X.; Fella, Christian; Huang, Shouguang; Al‐Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Alquraishi, Saleh; Breadmore, Michael; Mancuso, Stefano; Shabala, Sergey; Ache, Peter; Zhang, Heng; Zhu, Jian‐Kang ... & Scherzer, Sönke
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The epidermal bladder cell‐free mutant of the salt‐tolerant quinoa challenges our understanding of halophyte crop salinity tolerance. New Phytologist, 236(4), 1409-1421.
Moog, Max William; Trinh, Mai Duy Luu; Nørrevang, Anton Frisgaard; Bendtsen, Amalie Kofoed; Wang, Cuiwei; Østerberg, Jeppe Thulin; Shabala, Sergey; Hedrich, Rainer; Wendt, Toni & Palmgren, Michael
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Under salt stress quinoa stomatal guard cells control transpiration in an ABA-primed manner. openRxiv.
Huang, Shouguang; Messerer, Maxim; Müller, Heike M.; Scherzer, Sönke; Roelfsema, M. Rob G.; Weiste, Christoph; Krischke, Markus; Korte, Pamela; Moog, Max William; Mayer, Klaus F. X.; Ache, Peter & Hedrich, Rainer
