“…Colonization with P. involutus strain MAJ reduces the buildup of Na + but enhances K + accumulation in the leaves of a salt-sensitive hybrid poplar, Populus 3 canescens (Langenfeld-Heyser et al, 2007, Luo et al, 2011. The maintenance of a high K + /Na + ratio is critical for salt tolerance in herbaceous plants (Shabala, 2000;Tester and Davenport, 2003;Chen et al, 2007;Shabala and Cuin, 2008) and woody species, including Populus species (Chen et al, 2001(Chen et al, , 2002a(Chen et al, , 2002b(Chen et al, , 2003Sun et al, 2009aSun et al, , 2009bSun et al, , 2010Sun et al, , 2012. At the cellular level, salinized plants avoid Na + toxicity in the cytosol by compartmentalizing Na + into the vacuole and excreting Na + into the external environment or the apoplast (Blumwald et al, 2000;Hasegawa et al, 2000;Zhu, 2001Zhu, , 2003Ottow et al, 2005;Apse and Blumwald, 2007;Munns and Tester, 2008;Chen and Polle, 2010).…”