Potassium uptake by higher plants: From field application to membrane transport

S. Kant*, P. Kant, U. Kafkafi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Potassium (K+) is a crucial nutrient element for higher plants and plays vital roles in several cellular processes including turgor regulation, stomatal movement, protein synthesis and charge balance. The requirement of K+ for plant growth changes with the developmental stages and its uptake pattern varies among crop plants. Most annual crop plants take up a large proportion of their K+ requirement in the initial vegetative growth stage. A deficiency of K+ during this period may make the plant susceptible to various stresses. Therefore, the timely application of K + to the plant rhizosphere is an important factor for achieving better plant growth and yield. Plants take up K+ by active and passive transport. Electrophysiological and molecular studies done during the last two decades have characterized the active K+ uptake mechanisms (high and low affinity K+ uptake systems) and have identified the genes involved in these mechanisms. The knowledge of K+ uptake during the plant life cycle and of the activation of the K+ uptake system by the presence of a certain concentration of K+ in the soil solution would certainly help in planning the rate and time of K+ application. Therefore, the work done on the pattern of K+ uptake during plant growth and the mechanism involved in its uptake is reviewed here.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)443-459
Number of pages17
JournalActa Agronomica Hungarica
Volume53
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005

Keywords

  • High affinity
  • Low affinity
  • Mechanism
  • Plant growth
  • Potassium
  • Uptake

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