Two Arabidopsis thaliana extragenic mutations that suppress NaCl hypersensitivity of the sos3-1 mutant were identified in a screen of a T-DNA insertion population in the genetic background of Col-0 gl1 sos3-1. Analysis of the genome sequence in the region flanking the T-DNA left border indicated that sos3-1 hkt1-1 and sos3-1 hkt1-2 plants have allelic mutations in AtHKT1. AtHKT1 mRNA is more abundant in roots than shoots of wild-type plants but is not detected in plants of either mutant, indicating that this gene is inactivated by the mutations. hkt1-1 and hkt1-2 mutations can suppress to an equivalent extent the Na ؉ sensitivity of sos3-1 seedlings and reduce the intracellular accumulation of this cytotoxic ion. Moreover, sos3-1 hkt1-1 and sos3-1 hkt1-2 seedlings are able to maintain [K ؉ ]int in medium supplemented with NaCl and exhibit a substantially higher intracellular ratio of K ؉ ͞Na ؉ than the sos3-1 mutant. Furthermore, the hkt1 mutations abrogate the growth inhibition of the sos3-1 mutant that is caused by K ؉ deficiency on culture medium with low Ca 2؉ (0.15 mM) and <200 M K ؉ . Interestingly, the capacity of hkt1 mutations to suppress the Na ؉ hypersensitivity of the sos3-1 mutant is reduced substantially when seedlings are grown in medium with low Ca 2؉ (0.15 mM). These results indicate that AtHKT1 is a salt tolerance determinant that controls Na ؉ entry and high affinity K ؉ uptake. The hkt1 mutations have revealed the existence of another Na ؉ influx system(s) whose activity is reduced by high [Ca 2؉ ]ext. H igh [NaCl] ext disturbs intracellular ion homeostasis of plants, which leads to membrane dysfunction, attenuation of metabolic activity, and secondary effects that cause growth inhibition and lead ultimately to cell death (1). Both glycophytes and halophytes use a similar strategy that involves regulation of net Na ϩ flux across the plasma membrane and vacuolar compartmentalization of the internalized cation to mediate intracellular Na ϩ homeostasis. This strategy requires the coordinated function of numerous ion transport determinants and effectively partitions the toxic ion away from critical cytosolic and organellar machinery. Under conditions of high [Na ϩ ] ext , the functioning of these determinants also facilitates the use of Na ϩ as an osmolyte to mediate osmotic adjustment that is necessary for cell expansion (1-3). Because vacuolar expansion is the primary mechanism of plant cell enlargement, this strategy is likely to be an essential adaptation to saline environments.Recently, putative plasma membrane and tonoplast localized Na ϩ ͞H ϩ transporters were identified in plants that are presumed to mediate energized transport of Na ϩ outward from the cytosol to the apoplast or into the vacuole (4-7). These transporters are apparently the molecular effectors of Na ϩ ͞H ϩ antiporter activities associated with plasma membrane and tonoplast vesicles that were described more than a decade ago (1,3,8,9). The plasma membrane Na ϩ ͞H ϩ

SummaryProgrammed cell death (PCD) is a fundamental cellular process conserved in metazoans, plants and yeast. Evidence is presented that salt induces PCD in yeast and plants because of an ionic, rather than osmotic, etiology. In yeast, NaCl inhibited growth and caused a time-dependent reduction in viability that was preceded by DNA fragmentation. NaCl also induced the cytological hallmarks of lysigenoustype PCD, including nuclear fragmentation, vacuolation and lysis. The human anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 increased salt tolerance of wild-type yeast strain and calcineurin-de®cient yeast mutant (cnb1D) that is defective for ion homeostasis, but had no effect on the NaCl or sorbitol sensitivity of the osmotic hypersensitive hog1D mutant ± results that further link PCD in the response to the ion disequilibrium under salt stress. Bcl-2 suppression of cnb1D salt sensitivity was ENA1 (P-type ATPase gene)-dependent, due in part to transcriptional activation. Salt-induced PCD (TUNEL staining and DNA laddering) in primary roots of both Arabidopsis thaliana wild type (Col-1 gl1) and sos1 (salt overly sensitive) mutant seedlings correlated positively with treatment lethality. Wild-type plants survived salt stress levels that were lethal to sos1 plants because secondary roots were produced from the shoot/root transition zone. PCD-mediated elimination of the primary root in response to salt shock appears to be an adaptive mechanism that facilitates the production of roots more able to cope with a saline environment. Both salt-sensitive mutants of yeast (cnb1D) and Arabidopsis (sos1) exhibit substantially more profound PCD symptoms, indicating that salt-induced PCD is mediated by ion disequilibrium.

Cold, hyperosmolarity, and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling induce RD29A expression, which is an indicator of the plant stress adaptation response. Two nonallelic Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype C24) T-DNA insertional mutations, cpl1 and cpl3, were identified based on hyperinduction of RD29A expression that was monitored by using the luciferase (LUC) reporter gene (RD29A::LUC) imaging system. Genetic linkage analysis and complementation data established that the recessive cpl1 and cpl3 mutations are caused by T-DNA insertions in AtCPL1 (Arabidopsis C-terminal domain phosphatase-like) and AtCPL3, respectively. Gel assays using recombinant AtCPL1 and AtCPL3 detected innate phosphatase activity like other members of the phylogenetically conserved family that dephosphorylate the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II). cpl1 mutation causes RD29A::LUC hyperexpression and transcript accumulation in response to cold, ABA, and NaCl treatments, whereas the cpl3 mutation mediates hyperresponsiveness only to ABA. Northern analysis confirmed that LUC transcript accumulation also occurs in response to these stimuli. cpl1 plants accumulate biomass more rapidly and exhibit delayed flowering relative to wild type whereas cpl3 plants grow more slowly and flower earlier than wild-type plants. Hence AtCPL1 and AtCPL3 are negative regulators of stress responsive gene transcription and modulators of growth and development. These results suggest that C-terminal domain phosphatase regulation of RNAP II phosphorylation status is a focal control point of complex processes like plant stress responses and development. AtCPL family members apparently have both unique and overlapping transcriptional regulatory functions that differentiate the signal output that determines the plant response. P lants tolerate environmental stress because of numerous physiological adaptations, which have been attributed to the function of various determinant genes (1). In Arabidopsis thaliana, transcription of RD (Responsive to Dehydration) (2) and COR (Cold Responsive) (3) genes is activated by cold or hyperosmotic stress. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) activates transcription of some RD and COR genes through an interaction involving the cis element ABRE (ABA-responsive element) and basic leucine zipper transcription factors such as ABFs͞AREBs (4, 5). However, expression of some RD or COR genes is activated by low temperature or desiccation, independent of ABA, by the interaction of CBF͞DREB DNA-binding proteins with another cis element, DRE (6, 7). Overexpression of CBF͞DREB in transgenic Arabidopsis plants induces ectopic expression of RD͞COR genes and confers desiccation and cold tolerance (7,8).Recent genetic dissection of cold-, hyperosmolarity-, and ABA-induced signaling that regulates gene expression and adaptation indicates that the cascade signature is modulated by numerous positive and negative regulators (9-14). Signaling control of plant gene expression is known now to include components that function at various stages in mRNA metaboli...