The role of potassium in alleviating detrimental effects of abiotic stresses in plants

Abstract Plants exposed to environmental stress factors, such as drought, chilling, high light intensity, heat, and nutrient limitations, suffer from oxidative damage catalyzed by reactive oxygen species (ROS), e.g. , superoxide radical (O 2 – ), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and hydroxyl radical (OH ). Reactive O 2 species are known to be primarily responsible for impairment of cellular function and growth depression under stress conditions. In plants, ROS are predominantly produced during the photosynthetic electron transport and activation of membrane‐bound NAD(P)H oxidases. Increasing evidence suggests that improvement of potassium (K)‐nutritional status of plants can greatly lower the ROS production by…