XII Portuguese-Spanish Symposium on Plant Water Relations
Chloride Nutrition Regulates Water Balance in Plants Franco-Navarro JD1, Brumós J2, Rosales MA1, Vázquez-Rodríguez A1, Sañudo BJ1, DíazRueda P1, Rivero C1, Talón M2, Colmenero-Flores JM1 1 Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNASE). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Avda. Reina Mercedes 10, 41012-Sevilla, Spain. 2 Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias. Centro de Genómica. Carretera Moncada - Náquera, Km. 4,5. 46113-Moncada (Valencia), Spain. * e-mail:
[email protected]
ABSTRACTS Cl- is a strange micronutrient since actual Cl- concentration in plants is about two orders of magnitude higher than the content required as essential micronutrient. This accumulation requires a high cost of energy, and since Cl- is a major osmotically active solute in the vacuole, we propose that Cl- plays a role in the regulation of water balance in plants. We show here that, when accumulated to macronutrient levels, Cl- specifically regulates leaf cell elongation and water balance parameters, improving water relations at both the leaf tissue and the whole plant levels, increasing drought resistance in higher plants.
INTRODUCTION Chloride (Cl-) is one of the 16 elements essential for plant growth. Because it is supposed to be needed in small quantities for healthy growth of higher plants (
