A charged existence: a century of transmembrane ion transport in plants

Blatt, M. R. (2024) A charged existence: a century of transmembrane ion transport in plants. Plant Physiology, (doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad630) (PMID:38163639) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

If the past century marked the birth of membrane transport as a focus for research in plants, the past 50 years has seen the field mature from arcane interest to a central pillar of plant physiology. Ion transport across plant membranes accounts for roughly 30% of the metabolic energy consumed by a plant cell, and it underpins virtually every aspect of plant biology, from mineral nutrition, cell expansion, and development to auxin polarity, fertilization, plant pathogen defense, and senescence. The means to quantify ion flux through individual transporters, even single channel proteins, became widely available as voltage clamp methods expanded from giant algal cells to the fungus Neurospora crassa in the 1970s and the cells of angiosperms in the 1980s. Here, I touch briefly on some key aspects of the development of modern electrophysiology with a focus on the guard cells of stomata, now without dispute the premier plant cell model for ion transport and its regulation. Guard cells have proven to be a crucible for many technical and conceptual developments that have since emerged into the mainstream of plant science. Their study continues to provide fundamental insights and carries much importance for the global challenges that face us today.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: I am grateful for continued support from the UK research councils, and funding from the National Science Foundation (USA), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Human Frontiers Science Program, the European Research Council, the Royal Society (London), and the Leverhulme Trust.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Blatt, Professor Michael
• Authors: Blatt, M. R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Molecular Biosciences
• Journal Name: Plant Physiology
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0032-0889
• ISSN (Online): 1532-2548
• Published Online: 02 January 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 The Author
• First Published: First published in Plant Physiology 2024
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License