{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:00:55Z","timestamp":1790226055429,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Potassium (K) deficiency is a major constraint on plant growth and crop productivity. To elucidate the genotypic mechanisms underlying maize adaptation to K deficiency, we comprehensively compared the physiological responses and 8-plex iTRAQ (4 biological replicates) based plasma membrane (PM) proteomes of two maize genotypes with contrasting K efficiency. Under low-K conditions, the K-efficient genotype (K-ef) maintained greater growth and root vitality and exhibited significantly higher K concentration and accumulation than the K inefficient genotype (K-inef). Quantitative plasma membrane (PM) proteomic analysis revealed 52 differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs) in K-ef (29 upregulated and 23 downregulated) and 49 DAPs in K-inef (38 upregulated, and 11 downregulated). These DAPs were involved in transport, signal transduction, lipid metabolism, cellular structure, and redox\/defense. Integrating the physiological and proteomic data revealed that K-ef may adopt an \u201cenergy-saving\u201d strategy by prioritizing K\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    transport, redox defense, and Ca\n                    <jats:sup>2+<\/jats:sup>\n                    signaling, whereas K-inef falls into an energy-wasting strategy and indiscriminate stress response. Our study provides valuable insights into physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying low K stress in maize roots and providing a basis to further study K nutrition in other crop species.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1957989","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T04:31:01Z","timestamp":1790224261000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Plasma membrane proteomics reveals mechanism of low potassium tolerance in two contrasting maize genotypes"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Ming","family":"Zhong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuisen","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xudong","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojie","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dian","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fei","family":"Zou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Maize Research Institute, Hulunbuir Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences","place":["Zhalantun, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanye","family":"Ruan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhifu","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University","place":["Shenyang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Garcia-Caparros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Engineering School, University of Almeria","place":["Almeria, Spain"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1543","DOI":"10.1093\/pcp\/pch209","article-title":"Arabidopsis plasma membrane proteomics identifies components of transport, signal transduction and membrane trafficking","volume":"45","author":"Alexandersson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Plant Cell Physiol."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1755-1315\/1252\/1\/012035","article-title":"Study of genotypic and phenotypic correlation and path analysis under potassium fertilization in maize (Zea mays)","volume":"1252","author":"Al-Rawi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Iop Conf. 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