Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis
Published on: June 4, 2021
Physiological roles of nonselective cation channels in plants: from salt stress to signalling and development
Vadim Demidchik1, Frans J M Maathuis2
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex CO4 3SQ, Colchester, UK.
Abstract:
Nonselective cation channels (NSCCs) catalyse passive fluxes of cations through plant membranes. NSCCs do not, or only to a small extent, select between monovalent cations, and several are also permeable to divalent cations. Although a number of NSCC genes has been identified in plant genomes, a direct correlation between gene products and in vivo observed currents is still largely absent for most NSCCs. In this review, physiological functions and molecular properties of NSCCs are critically discussed. Recent studies have demonstrated that NSCCs are directly involved in a multitude of stress responses, growth and development, uptake of nutrients and calcium signalling. NSCCs can also function in the perception of external stimuli and as signal transducers for reactive oxygen species, pathogen elicitors, cyclic nucleotides, membrane stretch, amino acids and purines.
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Salt Stress
Ion Channels
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow specific...
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
Cell Signaling in Plants
Tonicity in Plants
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...

