{"id":1861,"date":"2026-09-07T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-09-07-akt5-leaf-stalk-growth-en\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:00:00","slug":"2026-09-07-akt5-leaf-stalk-growth-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-09-07-akt5-leaf-stalk-growth-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant channel AKT5 finally linked to leaf-stalk growth in crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>2026-09-07 06:00 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AKT5, a plant protein with no assigned function for decades, is a potassium channel that helps leaf stalks elongate and position leaves in crowded growth. The combined structural and plant study appeared in Science Advances on September 2.<\/p>\n<p>Most experiments used Arabidopsis. The result does not show that switching AKT5 on will raise crop yields under field conditions; crops, water use, disease and final harvest still require testing.<\/p>\n<h2>How was it shown?<\/h2>\n<p>Structures, electrophysiology and knockout plants converged: phosphorylated AKT5 formed an inward potassium channel and was abundant in young petioles.<\/p>\n<h2>What changed in plants?<\/h2>\n<p>Plants without AKT5 had shorter petioles and more compact rosettes, with a larger biomass penalty when grown densely.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/akt5-leaf-stalk-growth-en.png\" alt=\"Plant channel AKT5 finally linked to leaf-stalk growth in crowds\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption class=\"op-briefing-image-caption\">This AI-generated image explains the topic; it is not a photograph of the actual event, observation, or experiment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Why does potassium matter?<\/h2>\n<p>Potassium helps draw water into cells and build pressure for elongation. AKT5 is one regulator in that process, not a complete explanation of growth.<\/p>\n<h2>Can farmers use it now?<\/h2>\n<p>No. Field crops must be tested for yield, water demand, stem strength and disease, and excess activity could disturb ion balance elsewhere.<\/p>\n<h2>What comes next?<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers need crop equivalents, real-field stress tests and a map of how environmental signals control AKT5 phosphorylation.<\/p>\n<h2>Primary sources and independent checks<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.aeh7630\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Science Advances \uc6d0 \ub17c\ubb38<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tohoku.ac.jp\/en\/press\/green_thumb_molecule_drives_growth_in_plants.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\ub3c4\ud638\ucfe0\ub300 \uacf5\uc2dd \uc5f0\uad6c \ubc1c\ud45c<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/news-releases\/1142537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EurekAlert \ub3c5\ub9bd \uc0c9\uc778<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arabidopsis experiments identified AKT5 as a working potassium channel that supports petiole elongation and competition under dense growth. Crop yield has not been demonstrated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-1861","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/1861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}