The apple Ca²⁺/H⁺ exchanger MdCAX2L-2 functions positively in modulation of Ba²⁺ tolerance

Calcium is an essential element for plant growth and development, and it plays an important role in the responses of plants to abiotic stress. High concentrations of heavy metal ions in soil significantly affect the yield and quality of crops and pose human health threats when these ions accumulate in edible organs. The Ca²⁺/H⁺ exchanger (CAX) family is a class of transporters that mediate the transmembrane transport of both Ca²⁺ and metal ions, and they are widely involved in regulating plant growth and development and stress responses. Here, we cloned an AtCAX2 ortholog, MdCAX2L-2, from apple. It is constitutively expressed in various apple tissues and significantly induced by Ca²⁺ and Ba²⁺ treatments. The MdCAX2L-2 protein is located in the vacuolar membrane in both plant and yeast cells. Overexpression of MdCAX2L-2 enhanced the tolerance of the yeast mutant K667 to high concentrations of Ca²⁺ and Ba²⁺. In addition, the role of MdCAX2L-2 in modulating Ba²⁺ tolerance was identified using MdCAX2L-2-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants and apple calli. Comparison of growth phenotypes and stress-related physiological indexes under BaCl₂ treatment indicated that MdCAX2L-2 could enhance the Ba²⁺ tolerance of plants by promoting Ba²⁺ compartmentalization into the vacuoles and eliminating excess ROS. Our results provide insights that will aid future studies examining the function of CAX proteins in regulating stress tolerance in fruit crops, as well as their underlying mechanisms.