Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water. It depends on the quantity of solute that does not penetrate the membrane. Tonicity delimits the magnitude and direction of osmosis and results in three possible scenarios that alter the volume of a cell: hypertonicity, hypotonicity, and isotonicity. Due to differences in structure and physiology, tonicity of plant cells is different from that of animal cells in some scenarios.

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition

Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the atmosphere, the...

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.

Responses to Salt Stress

Responses to Salt Stress

Salt stress—which can be triggered by high salt concentrations in a plant’s environment—can significantly affect plant growth and crop production by influencing photosynthesis and the absorption of water and nutrients.

Tonicity in Plants

Tonicity in Plants

Plant cells maintain appropriate osmotic balance in extreme conditions. For instance, plants in dry environments store water in vacuoles, limit the opening of their stoma, and have thick, waxy cuticles to prevent unnecessary water loss. Some species of plants that live in salty environments store salt in their roots. As a result, water osmosis occurs in the root from the surrounding soil.
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Quantitative light element profiling in plant tissues with monochromatic X-ray fluorescence analysis: a new frontier for abiotic stress studies.

Journal of experimental botany·2026

Same author

Pseudomonas volatiles shape the root transcriptome and microbiome to promote plant growth under drought.

The New phytologist·2026

Same author

Unravelling the Significance of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase in Phosphate Starvation Responses.

Plant, cell & environment·2025

Same author

Warm temperature and mild water stress cooperatively promote root elongation.

Current biology : CB·2025

Same author

Natural variation in salt-induced changes in root:shoot ratio reveals SR3G as a negative regulator of root suberization and salt resilience in <i>Arabidopsis</i>.

eLife·2025

Same author

Abscisic acid signaling gates salt-induced responses of plant roots.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Same journal

GERAS: A Greek god and Mortal Kombat character regulates leaf senescence.

Molecular plant·2026

Same journal

A peroxisomal metabolic route from benzoyl-CoA to benzyl alcohol for phenylalanine-derived salicylic acid biosynthesis in rice.

Molecular plant·2026

Same journal

Reconstruction of ancestral plant genomes for inter-crop translational research.

Molecular plant·2026

Same journal

Heat-induced methylglyoxal impairs plant thermotolerance by repressing cpHSC70-1-mediated chloroplast protein import via post-translational modification.

Molecular plant·2026

Same journal

Hijacking host deubiquitination system: A convergent evolutionary strategy for plant viruses to safeguard viral proteome stability.

Molecular plant·2026

Same journal

Dual repression of OsSnRK1β1A by the deubiquitinase OsOTUB1 orchestrates energy metabolism and grain yield in rice.

Molecular plant·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Semi-High Throughput Screening for Potential Drought-tolerance in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Germplasm Collections

Semi-High Throughput Screening for Potential Drought-tolerance in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Germplasm Collections

Published on: April 17, 2015

Tasting trouble: Rethinking how plants sense salt and drought.

Sofía Ortega¹, Yu Him Tang¹, Christa Testerink¹

¹Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen 6708 PB, the Netherlands.

Molecular Plant

|March 4, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Plants lack identified sensors for soil salinity and drought stress, which cause hyperosmotic stress. This review explores potential plant drought and salt-sensing mechanisms, drawing parallels with other organisms to propose new hypotheses and identify research gaps.

More Related Videos

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Published on: June 4, 2021

Analysis of Effect of Compound Salt Stress on Seed Germination and Salt Tolerance Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Analysis of Effect of Compound Salt Stress on Seed Germination and Salt Tolerance Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Published on: November 30, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 12, 2026

Semi-High Throughput Screening for Potential Drought-tolerance in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Germplasm Collections

Semi-High Throughput Screening for Potential Drought-tolerance in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Germplasm Collections

Published on: April 17, 2015

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Published on: June 4, 2021

Analysis of Effect of Compound Salt Stress on Seed Germination and Salt Tolerance Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Analysis of Effect of Compound Salt Stress on Seed Germination and Salt Tolerance Analysis of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Published on: November 30, 2022

Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Abiotic Stress Physiology
Molecular Sensing Mechanisms

Background:

Soil salinity and drought are critical environmental factors limiting crop productivity.
Plants experience hyperosmotic stress under both salinity and drought conditions.
The primary sensors enabling plants to perceive these abiotic stresses remain largely unidentified.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent advances in understanding plant abiotic stress perception.
To propose novel hypotheses for plant salt and drought sensing mechanisms.
To identify key research gaps for future investigations into stress sensors.

Main Methods:

Literature review of recent scientific findings.
Comparative analysis of sensing mechanisms across different organisms (plants, animals, cyanobacteria).
Hypothesis generation based on existing knowledge and comparative studies.

Main Results:

Significant progress has been made in understanding plant responses to salt and water deficit.
Potential sensing mechanisms include cell wall mechanical stress, cell volume loss, plasma membrane tension, or direct ion detection (Na+, Cl-).
Parallels with animal and cyanobacterial systems offer new perspectives on plant stress perception.

Conclusions:

The precise primary sensors for drought and salinity in plants are yet to be definitively identified.
Further research is needed to elucidate these mechanisms, potentially by exploring conserved sensing pathways.
Identifying these sensors is crucial for developing crops with enhanced stress tolerance.