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Signal transduction: GABA receptor found in plants

Nature Plants volume 1, Article number: 15115 (2015) Cite this article

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GABA, a major brain neurotransmitter, was known to be important in plant development and stress responses. The discovery of an anion channel inhibited by GABA in wheat confirms its signalling role, indicating a convergent similarity between plants and animals.

More than 60 years ago γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was originally discovered as a chemical species in potato tubers1. It is an amino acid, although not one of the core twenty from which proteins are constructed, and the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system of vertebrates. GABA signalling through receptor channels or G-protein coupled receptors, and its newly discovered role as part of intercellular communication in immune cells2, has attracted a lot of experimental attention in the animal field. The recent report by Ramesh et al. in Nature Communications3 now uncovers the identity and activity of GABA receptor channels in wheat, providing a decisive argument in the long-standing dispute between the metabolic and signalling functions of GABA in plants.

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Figure 1: The effect of GABA on membrane potential in animal and plant cells.

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  1. Czech Republic and at the Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Viktor Žárský is at the Institute of Experimental Botany, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 165 02 Prague, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 128 44 Prague, Czech Republic.,

    Viktor Žárský

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  1. Viktor Žárský
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Correspondence to Viktor Žárský.

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Žárský, V. Signal transduction: GABA receptor found in plants. Nature Plants 1, 15115 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.115

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.115

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