RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 GABA signalling in guard cells acts as a ‘stress memory’ to optimise plant water loss
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2019.12.22.885160
DO 10.1101/2019.12.22.885160
A1 Bo Xu
A1 Yu Long
A1 Xueying Feng
A1 Xujun Zhu
A1 Na Sai
A1 Larissa Chirkova
A1 Johannes Herrmann
A1 Mamoru Okamoto
A1 Rainer Hedrich
A1 Matthew Gilliham
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/12/23/2019.12.22.885160.abstract
AB The non-protein amino acid γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been proposed to be an ancient messenger for cellular communication conserved across biological kingdoms. GABA has well-defined signalling roles in animals; however, whilst GABA accumulates in plants under stress it has not been determined if, how, where and when GABA acts as an endogenous plant signalling molecule. Here, we establish that endogenous GABA is a bona fide plant signal, acting via a mechanism not found in animals. GABA antagonises stomatal movement in response to opening and closing stimuli in multiple plant families including dicot and monocot crops. Using Arabidopsis thaliana, we show guard cell GABA production is necessary and sufficient to influence stomatal aperture, transpirational water loss and drought tolerance via inhibition of stomatal guard cell plasma membrane and tonoplast-localised anion transporters. This study proposes a novel role for GABA – as a ‘stress memory’ – opening new avenues for improving plant stress tolerance.