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Guard cell abscisic acid signalling and engineering drought hardiness in plants

Nature volume 410, pages 327–330 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Guard cells are located in the epidermis of plant leaves, and in pairs surround stomatal pores. These control both the influx of CO2 as a raw material for photosynthesis and water loss from plants through transpiration to the atmosphere. Guard cells have become a highly developed system for dissecting early signal transduction mechanisms in plants. In response to drought, plants synthesize the hormone abscisic acid, which triggers closing of stomata, thus reducing water loss. Recently, central regulators of guard cell abscisic acid signalling have been discovered. The molecular understanding of the guard cell signal transduction network opens possibilities for engineering stomatal responses to control CO2 intake and plant water loss.

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Figure 1: Simplified model for proposed functions of positive and negative regulators mediating guard cell ABA signal transduction.
Figure 2: ABA-induced [Ca2+]cyt oscillations in Arabidopsis guard cells expressing yellow cameleon 2.1. [Ca2+]cyt oscillations elicited by ABA are indicated by an increase in the fluorescence emission ratio 535/480 nm14.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Z.-M. Pei for discussions and help with figures and M. Ghassemian, N. Crawford, N. Spitzer, D. Waner and N. Leonhardt for comments. Supported by NSF, NIH and DOE grants (J.I.S.) and HFSP fellowships (J.M.K. and G.A.).

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  1. Division of Biology and Center for Molecular Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology Section, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, 92093-0116, California, USA

    Julian I. Schroeder, June M. Kwak & Gethyn J. Allen

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Schroeder, J., Kwak, J. & Allen, G. Guard cell abscisic acid signalling and engineering drought hardiness in plants. Nature 410, 327–330 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35066500

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