The cysteine-rich receptor-like kinase CRK4 contributes to the different drought stress response between Columbia and Landsberg erecta.

The natural variation between Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ecotypes Columbia (Col) and Landsberg erecta (Ler) strongly affects abscisic acid (ABA) signalling and drought tolerance. Here, we report that the cysteine-rich receptor-like protein kinase CRK4 is involved in regulating ABA signalling, which contributes to the differences in drought stress tolerance between Col-0 and Ler-0. Loss-of-function crk4 mutants in the Col-0 background were less drought tolerant than Col-0, whereas overexpressing CRK4 in the Ler-0 background partially to completely restored the drought-sensitive phenotype of Ler-0. F1 plants derived from a cross between the crk4 mutant and Ler-0 showed an ABA-insensitive phenotype with respect to stomatal movement, along with reduced drought tolerance like Ler-0. We demonstrate that CRK4 interacts with the U-box E3 ligase PUB13 and enhances its abundance, thus promoting the degradation of ABA-INSENSITIVE 1 (ABI1), a negative regulator of ABA signalling. Together, these findings reveal an important regulatory mechanism for modulating ABI1 levels by the CRK4-PUB13 module to fine-tune drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.

TaSRO1 plays a dual role in suppressing TaSIP1 to fine tune mitochondrial retrograde signalling and enhance salinity stress tolerance.

Initially discovered in yeast, mitochondrial retrograde signalling has long been recognised as an essential in the perception of stress by eukaryotes. However, how to maintain the optimal amplitude and duration of its activation under natural stress conditions remains elusive in plants. Here, we show that TaSRO1, a major contributor to the agronomic performance of bread wheat plants exposed to salinity stress, interacted with a transmembrane domain-containing NAC transcription factor TaSIP1, which could translocate from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) into the nucleus and activate some mitochondrial dysfunction stimulon (MDS) genes. Overexpression of TaSIP1 and TaSIP1-∆C (a form lacking the transmembrane domain) in wheat both compromised the plants' tolerance of salinity stress, highlighting the importance of precise regulation of this signal cascade during salinity stress. The interaction of TaSRO1/TaSIP1, in the cytoplasm, arrested more TaSIP1 on the membrane of ER, and in the nucleus, attenuated the trans-activation activity of TaSIP1, therefore reducing the TaSIP1-mediated activation of MDS genes. Moreover, the overexpression of TaSRO1 rescued the inferior phenotype induced by TaSIP1 overexpression. Our study provides an orchestrating mechanism executed by the TaSRO1-TaSIP1 module that balances the growth and stress response via fine tuning the level of mitochondria retrograde signalling.

SORTING NEXIN2 proteins mediate stomatal movement and the response to drought stress by modulating trafficking and protein levels of the ABA exporter ABCG25.

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates ion channel activity and stomatal movement in response to drought stress. Cellular ABA levels change depending on cellular and environmental conditions via modulation of its biosynthesis, catabolism and transport. Although factors involved in ABA biosynthesis and degradation have been studied extensively, how ABA transporters are modulated to fine-tune ABA levels, especially under drought stress, remains elusive. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana SORTING NEXIN 2 (SNX2) proteins play a critical role in endosomal trafficking of the ABA exporter ATP BINDING CASETTE G25 (ABCG25) via direct interaction at endosomes, leading to its degradation in the vacuole. In agreement, snx2a and snx2b mutant plants showed enhanced recycling of GFP-ABCG25 from early endosomes to the plasma membrane and higher accumulation of GFP-ABCG25. Phenotypically, snx2a and snx2b plants were highly sensitive to exogenous ABA and displayed enhanced ABA-mediated inhibition of inward K+ currents and ABA-mediated activation of slow anion currents in guard cells, resulting in an increased tolerance to drought stress. Based on these results, we propose that SNX2 proteins play a crucial role in stomatal movement and tolerance to drought stress by modulating the endosomal trafficking of ABCG25 and thus cellular ABA levels.

A ras-related small GTP-binding protein, RabE1c, regulates stomatal movements and drought stress responses by mediating the interaction with ABA receptors.

Drought represents a leading constraint over crop productivity worldwide. The plant response to this stress is centered on the behavior of the cell membrane, where the transduction of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling occurs. Here, the Ras-related small GTP-binding protein RabE1c has been shown able to bind to an ABA receptor in the Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane, thereby positively regulating ABA signaling. RabE1c is highly induced by drought stress and expressed abundantly in guard cells. In the loss-of-function rabe1c mutant, both stomatal closure and the whole plant drought stress response showed a reduced sensitivity to ABA treatment, demonstrating that RabE1c is involved in the control over transpirative water loss through the stomata. Impairment of RabE1c's function suppressed the accumulation of the ABA receptor PYL4. The over-expression of RabE1c in A. thaliana enhanced the plants' ability to tolerate drought, and a similar phenotypic effect was achieved by constitutively expressing the gene in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapassp. pekinensis). The leading conclusion was that RabE1c promotes the degradation of PYL4, suggesting a possible genetic strategy to engineer crop plants to better withstand drought stress.

The LRR-RLK Protein HSL3 Regulates Stomatal Closure and the Drought Stress Response by Modulating Hydrogen Peroxide Homeostasis.

Guard cells shrink in response to drought stress and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, thereby reducing stomatal aperture. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important signaling molecule acting to induce stomatal closure. As yet, the molecular basis of control over the level of H2O2 in the guard cells remains largely unknown. Here, the leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-receptor-like kinase (RLK) protein HSL3 has been shown to have the ability to negatively regulate stomatal closure by modulating the level of H2O2 in the guard cells. HSL3 was markedly up-regulated by treating plants with either ABA or H2O2, as well as by dehydration. In the loss-of-function hsl3 mutant, both stomatal closure and the activation of anion currents proved to be hypersensitive to ABA treatment, and the mutant was more tolerant than the wild type to moisture deficit; the overexpression of HSL3 had the opposite effect. In the hsl3 mutant, the transcription of NADPH oxidase gene RbohF involved in H2O2 production showed marked up-regulation, as well as the level of catalase activity was weakly inducible by ABA, allowing H2O2 to accumulate in the guard cells. HSL3 was concluded to participate in the regulation of the response to moisture deficit through ABA-induced stomatal closure triggered by the accumulation of H2O2 in the guard cells.