Water is a vital resource for plants to grow, thrive and complete their life cycle. In recent years, drastic changes in the climate, especially drought frequency and severity, have increased, which reduces agricultural productivity worldwide. Aquaporins are membrane channels belonging to the Major Intrinsic Protein (MIP) superfamily, which play an essential role in cellular water and osmotic homeostasis of plants under both control and water deficit conditions. A genome-wide search reveals vast availability of aquaporin isoforms, phylogenetic relationships, different families, conserved residues, chromosomal locations and gene structure of aquaporins. Furthermore, aquaporins gating and subcellular trafficking are commonly controlled by phosphorylation, cytosolic pH, divalent cations, reactive oxygen species and stoichiometry. Researchers have identified their involvement in regulating hydraulic conductance, root system architecture, modulation of abiotic stress-related genes, seed viability and germination, phloem loading, xylem water exit, photosynthetic parameters, and post-drought recovery. Remarkable effects following the change in aquaporin activity and/or gene expression have been observed on root water transport properties, nutrient acquisition, physiology, transpiration, stomatal aperture, gas exchange and water use efficiency. The present review highlights the role of different aquaporin homologs under water-deficit stress condition in model and crop plants. Moreover, the opportunity and challenges encountered to explore aquaporins for engineering drought-tolerant crop plants are also discussed here. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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植物水通道蛋白通过调节细胞生物化学、根系结构和光合作用减轻植物的耐旱性

水是植物生长、茁壮成长和完成生命周期的重要资源。近年来，气候的剧烈变化，特别是干旱频率和严重程度有所增加，这降低了全球农业生产力。水通道蛋白是属于主要内在蛋白 (MIP) 超家族的膜通道，在控制和缺水条件下，其在植物的细胞水和渗透稳态中发挥重要作用。全基因组搜索揭示了水通道蛋白同种型、系统发育关系、不同家族、保守残基、染色体位置和基因结构的广泛可用性。此外，水通道蛋白门控和亚细胞运输通常受磷酸化、胞质 pH、二价阳离子、活性氧和化学计量控制。研究人员已经确定他们参与调节水力传导、根系结构、非生物胁迫相关基因的调节、种子活力和发芽、韧皮部负荷、木质部水分排出、光合参数和干旱后恢复。已经观察到水通道蛋白活性和/或基因表达变化后对根系水分输送特性、养分获取、生理学、蒸腾作用、气孔孔径、气体交换和水分利用效率的显着影响。本综述强调了不同水通道蛋白同源物在缺水胁迫条件下在模型和作物植物中的作用。此外，本文还讨论了探索水通道蛋白用于工程耐旱作物植物时遇到的机遇和挑战。本文受版权保护。版权所有。