How does AT1 increase crop productivity under alkaline stress?

Alkalinity constrains crop production. Recently, Zhang et al. reported a negative regulator, Alkaline Tolerance 1 (AT1), attenuating phosphorylation of plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP2) to block efflux of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) under alkaline stress and boosting yield of cereal crops by 20–30%. However, further efforts are needed to exploit the application of AT1 in breeding alkaline-tolerant crops.