Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been increasingly recognized as one of the most valuable perennial bioenergy crop. To improve its biomass production, especially under salt stress, we isolated a putative vacuolar Na(+) (K(+))/H(+) antiporter gene from switchgrass and designated as PvNHX1. Subcellular localization revealed that this protein was localized mainly on the vacuole membrane. The PvNHX1 was found to be expressed throughout the entire growth period of switchgrass, exhibited preferentially expressed in the leaf tissue, and highly induced by salt stress. Transgenic switchgrass overexpressing PvNHX1 showed obvious advantages with respect to plant height and leaf development compared to the wild-type (WT) and transgenic control (EV, expressing the empty vector only) plants, suggesting PvNHX1 may serve as a promoter in switchgrass growth and development. Moreover, transgenic switchgrass were more tolerant than control plants with better growth-related phenotypes (higher shoot height, larger stem diameter, longer leaf length, and width) and physiological capacities (increased proline accumulation, reduced malondialdehyde production, preserved cell membrane integrity, etc.) under high salinity stress. Furthermore, the genes related to cell growth, flowering, and potassium transporters in transgenic switchgrass exhibited a different expression profiles when compared to the control plants, indicating a pivotal function of PvNHX1 in cell expansion and K(+) homeostasis. Taken together, PvNHX1 is essential for normal plant growth and development, and play an important role in the response to salt stress by improving K(+) accumulation. Our data provide a valuable foundation for further researches on the molecular mechanism and physiological roles of NHXs in plants.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 May 2017.
All research outputs
#16,691,042
of 26,290,088 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Plant Science
#10,017
of 25,064 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#188,904
of 327,508 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Plant Science
#288
of 549 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,290,088 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 25,064 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.0. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 327,508 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 549 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
