Organ-specific responses of vacuolar H-ATPase in the shoots and roots of C halophyte Suaeda salsa to NaCl.

Suaeda salsa L. is a halophytic species that is well adapted to high salinity. In order to understand its salt tolerance mechanism, we examined the growth and vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) response to NaCl within the shoots and roots. The growth of shoots, but not roots, was dramatically stimulated by NaCl. Cl(-) and Na(+) were mainly accumulated in shoots. V-ATPase activity was significantly increased by NaCl in roots and especially in shoots. Interestingly, antisera ATP95 and ATP88b detected three V(1) subunits (66, 55 and 36 KDa) of V-ATPase only in shoots, while an 18 kDa V(0) subunit of V-ATPase was detected by both antisera in shoots and roots. It suggested that the tissue-specific characteristics of V-ATPase were related to the different patterns of growth and ion accumulation in shoots and roots of S. salsa.