# OsKAT1 is a short Shaker potassium channel involved in root-to-shoot potassium translocation and contributes to rice grain yield

## TL;DR

OsKAT1 is a unique potassium channel in rice roots that helps transport potassium to shoots, improving grain yield under field conditions.

## Contribution

The study identifies OsKAT1 as a monocot-specific short Shaker channel involved in root-to-shoot potassium transport in rice.

## Key findings

- OsKAT1 is localized in rice root stele and mediates efficient K+ transport compared to its C-terminal chimera.
- OsKAT1 disruption reduces K+ secretion into xylem sap, affecting shoot K+ accumulation and grain yield.
- OsKAT1 functions as an inward channel and requires SKOR for xylem K+ transport in Arabidopsis.

## Abstract

K+ transport from root to shoot is a critical process for sustaining physiological functions in aerial organs. We report here a short inward channel OsKAT1, localized in the root stele of rice, which contributes to root–shoot K+ translocation. Functional comparison between OsKAT1 and its C-terminal extended chimera OsKAT1-C1 in both Xenopus oocytes and Arabidopsis roots demonstrates that the short channel OsKAT1 mediates more efficient K+ transport than the chimera carrying a canonical C terminus. Under field conditions, OsKAT1 activity shows significant contributions to K+ accumulation in shoots and grain yield of rice, highlighting its agronomic importance.

Shaker potassium channels play essential roles in K+ uptake and distribution in plants. Studies on Shaker channels in Arabidopsis have provided a paradigmatic framework, but the rice genome encodes an additional member, OsKAT1, whose function remians poorly defined. OsKAT1-type channels are characterized by an innately short cytosolic C terminus, forming a unique clade of monocot-specific short Shakers that is prevalent in Poaceae species. In rice, OsKAT1 is predominantly expressed in the root stele. Disruption of OsKAT1 (KO mutation) leads to a significant reduction in K+ secretion into the xylem sap delivered to the shoot. Patch-clamp experiments on root stele protoplasts of WT and KO plants indicate that OsKAT1 functions as an inward channel. Functional analyses in Xenopus oocytes reveal that despite activating at weakly negative voltages, OsKAT1 is intrinsically incapable of mediating substantial outward currents—a property attributed to its truncated C terminus. Together with outward K+ channel activity, this feature enables stelar cells to remain significantly permeable to K+ around the K+ equilibrium potential. When expressed in Arabidopsis, OsKAT1 contributes to K+ transport in the xylem sap, but only in wild-type plants that express SKOR, a Shaker channel specialized for this role. These results demonstrate that OsKAT1 constitutes a component of K+ translocation to shoots and shed light on the energization and regulation underlying this function. Moreover, OsKAT1 is shown to improve rice adaptation to environmental conditions and enhance grain yield under field conditions through its facilitating root-to-shoot ion translocation.