THE K+/NA+ SELECTIVITY OF A CATION CHANNEL IN THE PLASMA-MEMBRANE OF ROOT-CELLS DOES NOT DIFFER IN SALT-TOLERANT AND SALT-SENSITIVE WHEAT SPECIES

The characteristics of cation outward rectifier channels were studied in protoplasts from wheat root (Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum turgidum L.) cells using the patch clamp technique. The cation outward rectifier channels were voltage-dependent with a single channel conductance of 32 +/- 1 picosiemens in 100 millimolar KCl. Whole-cell currents were dominated by the activity of the cation outward rectifiers. The time- and voltage-dependence of these currents was accounted for by the summed behavior of individual channels recorded from outside-out detached patches. The K+/Na+ permeability ratio of these channels was measured in a salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant genotype of wheat that differ in rates of Na+ accumulation, using a voltage ramp protocol on protoplasts in the whole-cell configuration. Permeability ratios were calculated from shifts in reversal potentials following ion substitutions. There were no significant differences in the K+/Na+ permeability ratios of these channels in root cells from either of the two genotypes tested. The permeability ratio for K+/Cl- was greater than 50:1. The K+/Na+ permeability ratio averaged 30:1, which is two to four times more selective than the same type of channel in guard cells and suspension culture cells. Lowering the Ca2+ concentration in the bath solution to 0.1 millimolar in the presence of 100 millimolar Na+ had no significant effect on the K+/Na+ permeability ratios of the channel. It seems unlikely that the mechanism of salt tolerance in wheat is based on differences in the K+/Na+ selectivity of these channels.