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Difference in Abscisic Acid Perception Mechanisms between Closure Induction and Opening Inhibition of Stomata revealed at the Genetic Level

September 12, 2013

Difference in Abscisic Acid Perception Mechanisms between Closure Induction and Opening Inhibition of Stomata revealed at the Genetic Level

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a key role in the drought-hardiness of plants. ABA induces stomatal closure and inhibits light-induced stomatal opening. The mechanisms in these two processes are not necessarily the same.
Researchers in Okayama University have revealed the difference in the mechanisms between Closure Induction and Opening Inhibition of Stomata at the genetic level.
The findings were published on August 14, 2013 in the journal Plant Physiology.

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2013/08/14/pp.113.223826

I. Mori and his colleagues in the Institute of Plant Science and Resources and their collaborative researchers in the Graduate School of Environmental Life Science have studied the ABA receptor genes pyr1, pyl1, pyl2 and pyl4, and examined the involvement of the receptors with opening inhibition and closure induction of stomata in the quadruple pyr/pyl/rcar ABA mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana and its wild type. The results demonstrated that ABA receptors PYR1, PYL1, PYL2 and PYL4, which control ABA-induced stomatal closure, are not strongly involved in the inhibition of stomatal opening by ABA.
This suggests that one or more other ABA receptors are involved in the inhibition of stomatal opening. This difference should make it easier to identify the ABA receptors involved in inhibition of stomatal opening by ABA.

The findings could lead to the development of crops with variations in ABA receptors and plant activators that control closure induction and opening inhibition of stomata independently.

This research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).


Contact Information:
Mototaka Senda, Ph.D.
US Representative
Intellectual Property Office, Organization for Research Promotion and Collaboration, Okayama University
Fremont, California USA
TEL: 1-510-797-0907
Email: takasenda@okayama-u.ac.jp

Izumi Mori, Ph.D.
Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University

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