Cytosolic pH homeostasis is a precondition for the normal growth and stress responses in plants, and H+ flux across the plasma membrane is essential for cytoplasmic pH control. Hence, this review focuses on seven types of proteins that possess direct H+ transport activity, namely, H+-ATPase, NHX, CHX, AMT, NRT, PHT, and KT/HAK/KUP, to summarize their plasma-membrane-located family members, the effect of corresponding gene knockout and/or overexpression on cytosolic pH, the H+ transport pathway, and their functional regulation by the extracellular/cytosolic pH. In general, H+-ATPases mediate H+ extrusion, whereas most members of other six proteins mediate H+ influx, thus contributing to cytosolic pH homeostasis by directly modulating H+ flux across the plasma membrane. The fact that some AMTs/NRTs mediate H+-coupled substrate influx, whereas other intra-family members facilitate H+-uncoupled substrate transport, demonstrates that not all plasma membrane transporters possess H+-coupled substrate transport mechanisms, and using the transport mechanism of a protein to represent the case of the entire family is not suitable. The transport activity of these proteins is regulated by extracellular and/or cytosolic pH, with different structural bases for H+ transfer among these seven types of proteins. Notably, intra-family members possess distinct pH regulatory characterization and underlying residues for H+ transfer. This review is anticipated to facilitate the understanding of the molecular basis for cytosolic pH homeostasis. Despite this progress, the strategy of their cooperation for cytosolic pH homeostasis needs further investigation.
Keywords: H+ transfer pathway; H+ transport proteins; cytosolic pH homeostasis; pH regulation.