Sudden elevations in external sodium chloride (NaCl) accelerate potassium (K+) efflux across the plasma membrane of plant root cells. It has been proposed that the extent of this acceleration can predict salt tolerance among contrasting cultivars. However, this proposal has not been considered in the context of plant nutritional history, nor has it been explored in rice (Oryza sativa L.), which stands among the world’s most important and salt-sensitive crop species. Using efflux analysis with 42K, coupled with growth and tissue K+ analyses, we examined the short- and long-term effects of NaCl exposure to plant performance within a nutritional matrix that significantly altered tissue-K+ set points in three rice cultivars that differ in salt tolerance: IR29 (sensitive), IR72 (moderate), and Pokkali (tolerant). We show that total short-term K+ release from roots in response to NaCl stress is small (no more than 26% over 45 min) in rice. Despite strong varietal differences, the extent of efflux is shown to be a poor predictor of plant performance on long-term NaCl stress. In fact, no measure of K+ status was found to correlate with plant performance among cultivars either in the presence or absence of NaCl stress. By contrast, shoot Na+ accumulation showed the strongest correlation (a negative one) with biomass, under long-term salinity. Pharmacological evidence suggests that NaCl-induced K+ efflux is a result of membrane disintegrity, possibly as result of osmotic shock, and not due to ion-channel mediation. Taken together, we conclude that, in rice, K+ status (including efflux) is a poor predictor of salt tolerance and overall plant performance and, instead, shoot Na+ accumulation is the key factor in performance decline on NaCl stress.

The heavy metals silver, gold, and mercury can strongly inhibit aquaporin-mediated water flow across plant cell membranes, but critical examinations of their side effects are rare. Here, the short-lived radiotracer 42K is used to demonstrate that these metals, especially silver, profoundly change potassium homeostasis in roots of intact barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants, by altering unidirectional K+ fluxes. Doses as low as 5 μM AgNO3 rapidly reduced K+ influx to 5% that of controls, and brought about pronounced and immediate increases in K+ efflux, while higher doses of Au3+ and Hg2+ were required to produce similar responses. Reduced influx and enhanced efflux of K+ resulted in a net loss of >40% of root tissue K+ during a 15 min application of 500 μM AgNO3, comprising the entire cytosolic potassium pool and about a third of the vacuolar pool. Silver also brought about major losses of UV-absorbing compounds, total electrolytes, and NH4+. Co-application, with silver, of the channel blockers Cs+, TEA+, or Ca2+, did not affect the enhanced efflux, ruling out the involvement of outwardly rectifying ion channels. Taken together with an examination of propidium iodide staining under confocal microscopy, the results indicate that silver ions affect K+ homeostasis by directly inhibiting K+ influx at lower concentrations, and indirectly inhibiting K+ influx and enhancing K+ efflux, via membrane destruction, at higher concentrations. Ni2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+, three heavy metals not generally known to affect aquaporins, did not enhance K+ efflux or cause propidium iodide incorporation. The study reveals strong and previously unknown effects of major aquaporin inhibitors and recommends caution in their application.