Plant atmospheric CO2 fixation depends on the aperture of stomatal pores at the leaf epidermis. Stomatal aperture or closure is regulated by changes in the metabolism of the two surrounding guard cells, which respond directly to environmental and internal cues such as mesophyll-derived metabolites. Sucrose has been shown to play a dual role during stomatal movements. The sucrose produced in the mesophyll cells can be transported to the vicinity of the guard cells via the transpiration stream, inducing closure in periods of high photosynthetic rate. By contrast, sucrose breakdown within guard cells sustains glycolysis and glutamine biosynthesis during light-induced stomatal opening. Here, we provide an update regarding the role of sucrose in the regulation of stomatal movement highlighting recent findings from metabolic and systems biology studies. We further explore how sucrose-mediated mechanisms of stomatal movement regulation could be useful to understand evolution of stomatal physiology among different plant groups.
Keywords: Guard cells; metabolic modelling; photosynthesis; stomatal conductance; stomatal movement; sucrose.