Characterization of group II HKT gene families in bread wheat and their role in regulation of tissue Na+ and K+ under saline conditions.

Group II High Affinity K+ Transporters (HKT) have capacity to transport Na+ that makes the encoding genes targets for improving crop salt tolerance. Bread wheat has two group II HKT multigene families. TaHKT2;1 and TaHKT2;2. Members of
neither of these families were implicated in significant root Na+ uptake but TaHKT2;1 genes were associated with variation for leaf Na+ exclusion and yield in some environments identifying a broader role in salt tolerance. In an evolutionary context these gene families have distinct phylogenetic lineages and predicted functional divergence. Collectively, group II HKT genes therefore, are implicated in plant responses to salinity.