Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Analysis of Effect of Compound Salt Stress on Seed Germination and Salt Tolerance Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)
Published on: November 30, 2022
New evidence about the relationship between water channel activity and calcium in salinity-stressed pepper plants
Francisco J Cabañero1, M Carmen Martínez-Ballesta, José A Teruel
1Departamento de Nutrición Vegetal, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura-CSIC, Apdo. Correos 164, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain.
Abstract:
This study, of how Ca2+ availability (intracellular, extracellular or linked to the membrane) influences the functionality of aquaporins of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants grown under salinity stress, was carried out in plants treated with NaCl (50 mM), CaCl2 (10 mM), and CaCl2 (10 mM) + NaCl (50 mM). For this, water transport through the plasma membrane of isolated protoplasts, and the involvement of aquaporins and calcium (extracellular, intracellular and linked to the membrane) has been determined. After these treatments, it could be seen that the calcium concentration was reduced in the apoplast, in the cells and on the plasma membrane of roots of pepper plants grown under saline conditions; these concentrations were increased or restored when extra calcium was added to the nutrient solution. Protoplasts extracted from plants grown under Ca2+ starvation showed no aquaporin functionality. However, for the protoplasts to which calcium was added, an increase of aquaporin functionality of the plasma membrane was observed [osmotic water permeability (Pf) inhibition after Hg addition]. Interestingly, when verapamil (a Ca2+ channel blocker) was added, no functionality was observed, even when Ca2+ was added with verapamil. Therefore, calcium seems to be involved in plasma membrane aquaporin regulation via a chain of processes within the cell but not by alteration of the stability of the plasma membrane.
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Salt Stress
Responses to Drought and Flooding
Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Feedback Regulation of Calcium Concentration
Various transmembrane receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), elicit a response to extracellular signals by increasing cytosolic calcium. Activated GPCRs...
Tonicity in Plants

