Register      Login
Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
Table of Contents
Functional Plant Biology

Functional Plant Biology

Volume 44 Number 12 2017

FP17133Expressing Arabidopsis thaliana V-ATPase subunit C in barley (Hordeum vulgare) improves plant performance under saline condition by enabling better osmotic adjustment

Getnet D. Adem, Stuart J. Roy, Yuqing Huang, Zhong-Hua Chen, Feifei Wang, Meixue Zhou, John P. Bowman, Paul Holford and Sergey Shabala
pp. 1147-1159

Salinity is a global problem affecting agriculture. Here we show that overexpression of vacuolar ATPase subunit C is beneficial in improving barley performance under saline conditions. This effect is explained by transgenic lines being able to rely more on the use of Na+ and K+ for osmotic adjustment rather than spending energy for de novo synthesis of organic osmolytes.


Horn-shaped gall is of great value in food, medicine and the industrial field, so the control of its formation will be helpful to increase the products. Vacuolar invertase is related to the rapid expansion of the galls, but ionically bound cell wall invertase is involved in the rapid growth of tissues. This might also be found in other kinds of galls.

FP17033Effects of Ni2+ and Cu2+ on K+ and H+ currents in lily pollen protoplasts

Maria Breygina, Denis V. Abramochkin, Nikita Maksimov and Igor Yermakov
pp. 1171-1177

Heavy metals disrupt pollen germination in many species, but the mechanism of their action remained unstudied. Here we report that Cu2+ and Ni2+ affect H+ current and K+ current, respectively, in lily pollen protoplasts; Cu2+ as well enhances reactive oxygen species accumulation. Thus, we reveal the targets for heavy metals (Cu2+ and Ni2+) in the pollen grain plasma membrane.

FP17032Light inhibition of foliar respiration in response to soil water availability and seasonal changes in temperature in Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest

Matthew H. Turnbull, Romà Ogaya, Adrià Barbeta, Josep Peñuelas, Joana Zaragoza-Castells, Owen K. Atkin, Fernando Valladares, Teresa E. Gimeno, Beatriz Pías and Kevin L. Griffin
pp. 1178-1193

Leaf respiration is an integral component of plant growth and the global carbon cycle, and it is typically lower during the day than at night. We investigated leaf respiration in Mediterranean holm oak woodland, and found that light inhibition was not strongly related to changes in soil water content or ambient temperature. The findings have implications for predictive models that seek to calculate plant carbon balance.

FP17049Variation in shoot tolerance mechanisms not related to ion toxicity in barley

Joanne Tilbrook, Rhiannon K. Schilling, Bettina Berger, Alexandre F. Garcia, Christine Trittermann, Stewart Coventry, Huwaida Rabie, Chris Brien, Martin Nguyen, Mark Tester and Stuart J. Roy
pp. 1194-1206

Salinity reduces the grain yield of cereal crops. In this study, nondestructive and destructive phenotyping was used to evaluate 24 predominately Australian barley lines at 0, 150 and 250 mM NaCl. Lines with higher salinity tolerance were better able to maintain their growth rates shortly after salt treatment and exclude Na+ from their shoots. This study shows that variation in shoot tolerance mechanisms unrelated to ion toxicity exists in barley and suggests that breeding new varieties with increased shoot ion-independent tolerance is possible.

FP17165The effect of elevated atmospheric [CO2] and increased temperatures on an older and modern cotton cultivar

Katrina J. Broughton, Michael P. Bange, Remko A. Duursma, Paxton Payton, Renee A. Smith, Daniel K. Y. Tan and David T. Tissue
pp. 1207-1218

Rising atmospheric [CO2] and temperature under projected climate change scenarios may have significant impacts on the physiology and yield of cotton. We quantified the response of cotton cultivars grown in elevated [CO2] and temperature and found substantial potential to increase breeding selection in future climates. Understanding the implications of integrated environmental impacts on cotton is critical for developing cotton systems that are resilient to stresses induced by climate change.


In this work we tested the response of PEPC and NAD-ME in the C4-NAD-ME subtype plant Salsola lanata (Chenopodiaceae) under drought stress. Only severe stress limited PEPC enzyme activity (at pH 8.0) significantly, and this was related with decreased PEPC mRNA. More phosphorylated status of PEPC enzyme in plants is under moderate stress compared with other treatments. The change of NAD-ME activity coincided with a change of leaf water content rather than the amount of α-NAD-ME mRNA and protein.


Rainfall pulses in water-limited regions significantly affect ecosystem structure and function. After comparing the effects of size and timing of stimulated rainfall pulses on dominant grassland species, we concluded that small pulses had a greater effect on leaf photosynthesis rather than biomass production, and the magnitude was correlated with species type and growth season. These results facilitate the regional eco-adaptability evaluation of species and prediction of vegetation succession under altered rainfall regimes.

Committee on Publication Ethics

Call for Papers

We are seeking contributions for the following Special Issues. More

Australian Society of Plant Scientists

Official Journal of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (asps.org.au).

ASPS logo

Best Paper Award

Phan Thi Thanh Hoai has been awarded the ASPS-FPB Best Paper Award for 2023.

Advertisement