Alkaline tolerance in plants: The AT1 gene and beyond

Abstract

Salt stress poses a serious challenge to crop production and a significant threat to global food security and ecosystem sustainability. Soil salinization commonly occurs in conjunction with alkalization, which causes combined saline–alkaline stress. Alkaline soil predominantly comprises NaHCO₃ and Na₂CO₃ and is characterized by a high pH. The combined saline–alkaline stress is more harmful to crop production than neutral salt stress owing to the effects of both elevated salinity and high pH stress. Through genome association analysis of sorghum, a recent study has identified Alkaline tolerance 1 (AT1) as a contributor to alkaline sensitivity in crops. AT1, which is the first gene to be identified as being specifically associated with alkaline tolerance, encodes a G protein γ-subunit (Gγ). Editing of AT1 enhances the yields of sorghum, rice, maize, and millet grown in alkaline soils, indicating that AT1 has potential for generating alkaline-resistant crops. In this review, we summarize the role of AT1 in alkaline tolerance in plants and present a phylogenetic analysis along with a motif comparison of Gγ subunits of monocot and dicot plants across various species.