In plant cells, the plasma membrane Na+/H+ antiporter SOS1 (salt overly sensitive 1) mediates Na+ extrusion using the proton gradient generated by plasma membrane H+-ATPases, and these two proteins are key plant halotolerance factors. In the present study, two genes from Sesuvium portulacastrum, encoding plasma membrane Na+/H+ antiporter (SpSOS1) and H+-ATPase (SpAHA1), were cloned. Localizatio...

The family of chloride channel proteins that mediate Cl(-) transportation play vital roles in plant nutrient supply, cellular action potential and turgor pressure adjustment, stomatal movement, hormone signal recognition and transduction, Cl(-) homeostasis, and abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. The anionic toxicity, mainly caused by chloride ions (Cl(-)), on plants under salt stress remains ...

The subcellular localization of a wheat NHX antiporter, TaNHX2, was studied in Arabidopsis protoplasts, and its function was evaluated using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a heterologous expression system. Fluorescence patterns of TaNHX2-GFP fusion protein in Arabidopsis cells indicated that TaNHX2 localized at endomembranes. TaNHX2 has significant sequence homology to NHX sodium exchangers from A...

Salinity is a critical environmental factor that adversely affects crop productivity. Halophytes have evolved various mechanisms to adapt to saline environments. Salicornia europaea L. is one of the most salt-tolerant plant species. It does not have special salt-secreting structures like a salt gland or salt bladder, and is therefore a good model for studying the common mechanisms underlying pl...

The yeast cell wall plays an important role in maintaining cell morphology, cell integrity and response to environmental stresses. Here, we report that salt stress causes cell wall damage in yeast cells lacking mitochondrial DNA (ρ0). Upon salt treatment, the cell wall is thickened, broken and becomes more sensitive to the cell wall-perturbing agent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Also, SCW11 mRN...

The Arabidopsis mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase 2 (MKK2) and the downstream MAPKs MPK4 and MPK6 were isolated by functional complementation of osmosensitive yeast mutants. In Arabidopsis protoplasts, MKK2 was specifically activated by cold and salt stress and by the stress-induced MAPK kinase kinase MEKK1. Yeast two-hybrid, in vitro, and in vivo protein kinase assays revealed tha...

A Na(+)/H(+) antiporter gene (CvNHA1) was cloned from the salt-tolerant yeast Candida versatilis. CvNHA1 encodes an antiporter with a typical yeast plasma membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporter structure. Transcription of CvNHA1 in C. versatilis cells was dependent on the salinity of the culture. When CvNHA1 was expressed in salt-sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, increased salt-tolerance was ob...

Twelve yeast strains isolated from the surface of Italian typical dry-cured hams, belonging to D. hansenii, D. maramus, C. famata, C. zeylanoides and H. burtonii species, and previously selected for their ability to grow in dry-cured ham-like substrates, were screened for antagonistic activity against a toxigenic strain of P. nordicum and inhibition of ochratoxin A (OTA) biosynthesis. On averag...

Most laboratory evolution studies that characterize evolutionary adaptation genomically focus on genetically simple traits that can be altered by one or few mutations. Such traits are important, but they are few compared with complex, polygenic traits influenced by many genes. We know much less about complex traits, and about the changes that occur in the genome and in gene expression during th...

Mammalian homologues of the Lethal giant larvae (Lgl) tumor suppressor gene have been identified and these homologues can complement the yeast double mutant of Sop1 and Sop2, the yeast homologue of Lgl, as reported previously. In the absence of these genes in yeast, cellular viability is affected at restrictive temperature and salt environments. Members of this family contain five or more of th...