Polymorphic responses of medicago truncatula accessions to potassium deprivation

Abstract

Potassium (K+) is an essential macronutrient for plants and the most abundant cation in cells. Due to variable KC availability in the environment, plants must be able to adjust their developmental, physiological and transcriptional responses. The plant development to K+ deprivation was not well studied in legumes thus far. We recently described the first adaptation mechanisms of the model legume Medicago truncatula Jemalong A17 to long-term K+ deprivation and analyzed these responses in the context of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Here we report polymorphic growth variations of two genetically very different accessions of M. truncatula to K+-limiting conditions, Jemalong A17, and the Tunisian accession Tn11.1. The faster adaptation of Tn11.1 than A17 to K+ shortage might be due to its greater adaptation to saline soils. Examining in a more systematic way the developmental adaptation of various M. truncatula accessions to K+ deprivation will provide a better understanding of how legume evolved to cope with this stressful condition.