Afzal Zunaira, Howton T C, Sun Yali, Mukhtar M Shahid
Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
J Dev Biol. 2016 Feb 4;4(1):9. doi: 10.3390/jdb4010009.
Aquaporins are membrane channel proteins ubiquitously present in all kingdoms of life. Although aquaporins were originally discovered as water channels, their roles in the transport of small neutral solutes, gasses, and metal ions are now well established. Plants contain the largest number and greatest diversity of aquaporin homologs with diverse subcellular localization patterns, gating properties, and solute specificity. The roles of aquaporins in physiological functions throughout plant growth and development are well known. As an integral regulator of plant-water relations, they are presumed to play an important role in plant defense responses against biotic and abiotic stressors. This review highlights involvement of various aquaporin homologs in plant stress responses against a variety of environmental stresses that disturb plant cell osmotic balance and nutrient homeostasis.
水通道蛋白是普遍存在于所有生命王国中的膜通道蛋白。尽管水通道蛋白最初是作为水通道被发现的，但它们在运输小的中性溶质、气体和金属离子方面的作用现在已得到充分证实。植物中含有数量最多、种类最丰富的水通道蛋白同源物，它们具有不同的亚细胞定位模式、门控特性和溶质特异性。水通道蛋白在植物整个生长发育过程中的生理功能已为人所知。作为植物水分关系的一个重要调节因子，它们被认为在植物对生物和非生物胁迫的防御反应中发挥重要作用。本综述重点介绍了各种水通道蛋白同源物在植物对多种环境胁迫的应激反应中的作用，这些胁迫会扰乱植物细胞的渗透平衡和营养稳态。
