Plant NHX cation/proton antiporters

Although physiological and biochemical data since long suggested that Na+/H+ and K+/H+ antiporters are involved in intracellular ion and pH regulation in plants, it has taken a long time to identify genes encoding antiporters that could fulfil these roles. Genome sequencing projects have now shown that plants contain a very large number of putative Cation/Proton antiporters, the function of which is only beginning to be studied. The intracellular NHX transporters constitute the first Cation/Proton exchanger family studied in plants. The founding member, AtNHX1, was identified as an important salt tolerance determinant and suggested to catalyze Na+ accumulation in vacuoles. It is, however, becoming increasingly clear, that this gene and other members of the family also play crucial roles in pH regulation and K+ homeostasis, regulating processes from vesicle trafficking and cell expansion to plant development.