Channels for improved crop salt and water stress tolerance

水和盐是澳大利亚农业的关键因素。农作物使用一种名为水通道蛋白的蛋白质来跨细胞膜运输水分，新发现的这些蛋白质的一个子集也可以运输盐分。该项目旨在利用遗传学、分子生物学和电生理学的多学科技术，揭示通过水通道蛋白调节水和盐运输的分子途径。这些结果将为植物如何协调和适应不断变化的水和盐条件提供新的见解，回答植物生理学中的关键问题。好处包括扩大了植物育种计划的创新目标范围，以提高我们不断变化的气候中的植物生产力。

Water and salt are critical factors for the Australian agricultural industry. Crops use proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes, and a newly discovered subset of these proteins can also transport salts. This project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and salt transport via aquaporins using multidisciplinary techniques in genetics, molecular biology and electrophysiology. These results will provide novel insights into how plants coordinate and adapt to changing water and salt conditions, answering key questions in plant physiology. Benefits include an expanded, innovative range of targets for plant breeding programs to improve plant productivity in our changing climate.