Potassium is known as a rate-limiting factor for crop yield and plays an important role in plants response under abiotic stresses. Recently, cytosolic K⁺ retention ability in leaf mesophyll has emerged as an important component of plant salt tolerance mechanism (Wu et al., 2013; Wu et al., 2014; Wu et al., 2015). In this protocol, the procedure for screening leaf mesophyll for K⁺ retention by the MIFE (microelectrode ion flux estimation) technique is described in detail using wheat as an example. By measuring NaCl-induced K⁺ efflux in leaf mesophyll, a large number of plant accessions can be screened and categorised according to their salinity stress tolerance. The method provides a rapid and reliable tool that targets the activity of specific membrane transporters directly contributing to salinity tolerance trait and, because of this, has a competitive advantage over traditional whole-plant phenotyping. While the focus of this protocol is on wheat, the suggested method may be adopted for screening K⁺ retention in leaf mesophyll in any other crop species.

Item Type:	Contribution to Refereed Journal
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Plant Biology
Research Field:	Plant Physiology
Objective Division:	Plant Production and Plant Primary Products
Objective Group:	Winter Grains and Oilseeds
Objective Field:	Wheat
UTAS Author:	Wu, H (Mr Honghong Wu)
UTAS Author:	Shabala, L (Associate Professor Lana Shabala)
UTAS Author:	Zhou, M (Professor Meixue Zhou)
UTAS Author:	Shabala, S (Professor Sergey Shabala)
ID Code:	100720
Year Published:	2015
Deposited By:	Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Deposited On:	2015-05-27
Last Modified:	2016-08-02
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