The effect of sensitivity to abscisic acid on stomatal behaviour in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Stomatal oscillation has been described as an efficient mechanism to prevent water loss, decrease the transpiration rate and to improve water use efficiency under severe drought conditions. Former researches demonstrated that ABA-induced H2O2 production and H2O2activated Ca 2+ channels were important mechanism for ABA-induced stomatal oscillation. In this study, how sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) regulates stomatal oscillation was investigated with Arabidopsis thaliana mutants (abi1-1, insensitivity to ABA and era1-2, hypersensitive to ABA) and wild types. The results showed that (1) hypersensitivity to ABA strengthens stomatal oscillation and closure induced by ABA; (2) insensitivity to ABA abolishes stomatal oscillation and closure induced by ABA; and (3) there is a positive relationship between stomatal oscillation, closure and sensitivity to abscisic acid. The data indicates that sensitivity to ABA may regulate stomatal oscillation and closure in Arabidopsis thaliana.