The past year has brought significant advances in the characterisation in plants of a large
class of water-channel proteins called aquaporins. The capacity of some of these proteins to
transport small non-electrolytes in addition to water, together with their broad range of sub-
cellular localisations, provides new clues to explain the great diversity of aquaporins in
plants. Recent studies on water transport in roots illustrate how the variety of aquaporin
functions at the tissue level is being uncovered.

The high diversity of aquaporins reveals novel facets of plant membrane functions … The
high diversity of aquaporins reveals novel facets of plant membrane functions …