title: Cytosolic abscisic acid activates guard cell anion channels without preceding Ca2+ signals.
abstract: The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) reports on the water status of the plant and induces stomatal closure. Guard cell anion channels play a central role in this response, because they mediate anion efflux, and in turn, cause a depolarization-induced K+ release. We recorded early steps in ABA signaling, introducing multibarreled microelectrodes in guard cells of intact plants. Upon external ABA treatment, anion channels transiently activated after a lag phase of approximately 2 min. As expected for a cytosolic ABA receptor, iontophoretic ABA loading into the cytoplasm initiated a rise in anion current without delay. These ABA responses could be elicited repetitively at resting and at largely depolarized potentials (e.g., 0 mV), ruling out signal transduction by means of hyperpolarization-activated calcium channels. Likewise, ABA stimulation did not induce a rise in the cytosolic free-calcium concentration. However, the presence of approximately 100 nM background Ca2+ was required for anion channel function, because the action of ABA on anion channels was repressed after loading of the Ca2+ chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetate. The chain of events appears very direct, because none of the tested putative ABA-signaling intermediates (inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate, inositol hexakisphosphate, nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and cyclic ADP-ribose), could mimic ABA as anion channel activator. In patch-clamp experiments, cytosolic ABA also evoked anion current transients carried by R- and S-type anion channels. The response was dose-dependent with half-maximum activation at 2.6 microM ABA. Our studies point to an ABA pathway initiated by ABA binding to a cytosolic receptor that within seconds activates anion channels, and in turn, leads to depolarization of the plasma membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Julius-von-Sachs Institute for Biosciences, Biocenter, Würzburg University, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, D97082 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Levchenko
authors.forename: Kai R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.forename: M Rob G
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Roelfsema
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hedrich
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D000838:Anions / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011523:Protoplasts / Q000378:metabolism; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D031307:Vicia faba / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000838:Anions; D007473:Ion Channels; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D000040:Abscisic Acid; D002118:Calcium