The Rice High-Affinity Potassium Transporter1;1 Is Involved in Salt Tolerance and Regulated by an MYB-Type Transcription Factor

Sodium transporters play key roles in plant tolerance to salt stress. Here, we report that a member of the High-Affinity K(+) Transporter (HKT) family, OsHKT1;1, in rice (Oryza sativa 'Nipponbare') plays an important role in reducing Na(+) accumulation in shoots to cope with salt stress. The oshkt1;1 mutant plants displayed hypersensitivity to salt stress. They contained less Na(+) in the phloem sap and accumulated more Na(+) in the shoots compared with the wild type. OsHKT1;1 was expressed mainly in the phloem of leaf blades and up-regulated in response to salt stress. Using a yeast one-hybrid approach, a novel MYB coiled-coil type transcription factor, OsMYBc, was found to bind to the OsHKT1;1 promoter. In vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation and in vitro electrophoresis mobility shift assays demonstrated that OsMYBc binds to AAANATNC(C/T) fragments within the OsHKT1;1 promoter. Mutation of the OsMYBc-binding nucleotides resulted in a decrease in promoter activity of OsHKT1;1. Knockout of OsMYBc resulted in a reduction in NaCl-induced expression of OsHKT1;1 and salt sensitivity. Taken together, these results suggest that OsHKT1;1 has a role in controlling Na(+) concentration and preventing sodium toxicity in leaf blades and is regulated by the OsMYBc transcription factor.