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Amiloride Reduces Sodium Transport and Accumulation in the Succulent Xerophyte Zygophyllum xanthoxylum Under Salt Conditions

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Abstract

To investigate the effects of amiloride, which is an inhibitor of Na+/H+ antiporter (NHX), on Na+ accumulation and transport at the whole plant level, in this study, 3-week-old Zygophyllum xanthoxylum plants were exposed to 25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl with or without 0.5 mM amiloride. After 72 h of treatment, dry weight, tissue water content, Na+ and K+ concentrations, and transcript levels of ZxNHX were determined. The results indicated that, under salt conditions, leaf Na+ concentration, total Na+ quantity and root net Na+ uptake rate in plants treated with amiloride are significantly lower than those in control plants. Amiloride remarkably increased Na+ proportion in stem and decreased Na+ proportion in leaf of Z. xanthoxylum. Furthermore, our results showed that the transcript levels of ZxNHX are down-regulated by amiloride. It is clear that the inhibition of vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter by amiloride could disrupt Na+ accumulation of leaf, and reduce Na+ uptake by root and Na+ transport from stem to leaf, thus resulting in the growth inhibition of Z. xanthoxylum exposed to salt.

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Abbreviations

AKT:

Arabidopsis K+ transporter

CCC:

Cation-Cl− cotransporter

EtBr:

Ethidium bromide

HAK:

High-affinity K+ transporter

HKT:

High-affinity K+ transporter

KT:

K+ transporter

KUP:

K+ uptake transporter

LCT:

Low-affinity cation transporter

NSCC:

Non-selective cation channel

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

RT:

Reverse transcription

SOS:

Salt overly sensitive

VIC:

Voltage-independent channel

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Technology R & D Program (grant No. 2008BADB3B01), the National High Tech Project of China (grant No. 2006AA10Z126) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 30770347). The authors wish to thank an anonymous reviewer for his/her valuable suggestions on the manuscript.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem, Ministry of Agriculture, School of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, P.O. Box 61, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Guo-Qiang Wu, Qian Wang, Ai-Ke Bao & Suo-Min Wang

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  1. Guo-Qiang Wu
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Correspondence to Suo-Min Wang.

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Wu, GQ., Wang, Q., Bao, AK. et al. Amiloride Reduces Sodium Transport and Accumulation in the Succulent Xerophyte Zygophyllum xanthoxylum Under Salt Conditions. Biol Trace Elem Res 139, 356–367 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8662-9

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