Arabidopsis Duodecuple Mutant of PYL ABA Receptors Reveals PYL Repression of ABA-Independent SnRK2 Activity

Yang Zhao; Zhengjing Zhang; Jinghui Gao; Pengcheng Wang; Tao Hu; Zegang Wang; Yueh-Ju Hou; Yizhen Wan; Wenshan Liu; Shaojun Xie; Tianjiao Lu; Liang Xue; Yajie Liu; Alberto P Macho; W Andy Tao; Ray A Bressan; Jian-Kang Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.044

Arabidopsis Duodecuple Mutant of PYL ABA Receptors Reveals PYL Repression of ABA-Independent SnRK2 Activity

Cell Rep. 2018 Jun 12;23(11):3340-3351.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.044.

Authors

Yang Zhao¹, Zhengjing Zhang², Jinghui Gao³, Pengcheng Wang⁴, Tao Hu⁵, Zegang Wang⁶, Yueh-Ju Hou⁶, Yizhen Wan⁶, Wenshan Liu⁶, Shaojun Xie⁶, Tianjiao Lu², Liang Xue⁷, Yajie Liu², Alberto P Macho⁸, W Andy Tao⁷, Ray A Bressan⁶, Jian-Kang Zhu⁹

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China. Electronic address: zhaoyang@sibs.ac.cn.
² Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaan'xi 712100, China.
⁴ Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁵ Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China.
⁶ Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁸ Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
⁹ Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. Electronic address: jkzhu@purdue.edu.

Abstract

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone controlling responses to abiotic stresses and is sensed by proteins from the PYR/PYL/RCAR family. To explore the genetic contribution of PYLs toward ABA-dependent and ABA-independent processes, we generated and characterized high-order Arabidopsis mutants with mutations in the PYL family. We obtained a pyl quattuordecuple mutant and found that it was severely impaired in growth and failed to produce seeds. Thus, we carried out a detailed characterization of a pyl duodecuple mutant, pyr1pyl1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/10/11/12. The duodecuple mutant was extremely insensitive to ABA effects on seed germination, seedling growth, stomatal closure, leaf senescence, and gene expression. The activation of SnRK2 protein kinases by ABA was blocked in the duodecuple mutant, but, unexpectedly, osmotic stress activation of SnRK2s was enhanced. Our results demonstrate an important role of basal ABA signaling in growth, senescence, and abscission and reveal that PYLs antagonize ABA-independent activation of SnRK2s by osmotic stress.

Keywords: ABA-dependent; ABA-independent; PYL; SnRK2; abscisic acid; drought stress; osmotic stress.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Abscisic Acid / pharmacology*
Arabidopsis / drug effects
Arabidopsis / growth & development
Arabidopsis / metabolism*
Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics
Gene Editing
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects*
Mutagenesis
Osmotic Pressure / drug effects
Plant Growth Regulators / pharmacology*
Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism*

Substances

Arabidopsis Proteins
Plant Growth Regulators
SnRK2 protein, Arabidopsis
Abscisic Acid
Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases

Grants and funding

R01 GM059138/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States