Activity of tonoplast proton pumps and Na+/H+ exchange in potato cell cultures is modulated by salt

The efficient exclusion of excess Na from the cytoplasm and vacuolar Na + accumulation are the main mechanisms for the adaptation of plants to salt stress. This is typically carried out by transmembrane transport proteins that exclude Na + from the cytosol in exchange for H + , a secondary transport process which is energy-dependent and driven by the proton-motive force generated by plasma-membrane and tonoplast proton pumps. Tonoplast enriched-vesicles from control and 150 mM NaCl-tolerant calli lines were used as a model system to study the activity of V-H + -PPase and V-H + -ATPase and the involvement of Na + compartmentalization into the vacuole as a mechanism of salt tolerance in Solanum tuberosum. Both ATP- and pyrophosphate (PPi)-dependent H + -transport were higher in tonoplast vesicles from the salt-tolerant line than in vesicles from control cells. Western blotting of tonoplast proteins confirmed that changes in V-H + -PPase activity are correlated with increased protein amount. Conversely, immunodetection of the A-subunit of V-H + -ATPase revealed that a mechanism of post-translational regulation is probably involved. Na + -dependent dissipation of a pre-established pH gradient was used to measure Na + /H + exchange in tonoplast vesicles. The initial rates of proton efflux followed Michaelis–Menten kinetics and the Vmax of proton dissipation was 2-fold higher in NaCl-tolerant calli when compared to the control. H + -coupled exchange was specific for Na + and Li + and not for K + . The increase of both the pH gradient across the tonoplast and the Na + /H + antiport activity in response to salt strongly suggests that Na + sequestration into the vacuole contributes to salt tolerance in potato.