FERONIA receptor kinase pathway suppresses abscisic acid signaling in Arabidopsis by activating ABI2 phosphatase.
Plant growth and development are controlled by a delicate balance of hormonal cues. Growth-promoting hormones and growth-inhibiting counterparts often antagonize each other in their action, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these events remain largely unknown. Here, we report a cross-talk mechanism that enables a receptor-like kinase, FERONIA (FER), a positive regulator of auxin-promoted growth, to suppress the abscisic acid (ABA) response through activation of ABI2, a negative regulator of ABA signaling. The FER pathway consists of a FER kinase interacting with guanine exchange factors GEF1, GEF4, and GEF10 that, in turn, activate GTPase ROP11/ARAC10. Arabidopsis mutants disrupted in any step of the FER pathway, including fer, gef1gef4gef10, or rop11/arac10, all displayed an ABA-hypersensitive response, implicating the FER pathway in the suppression mechanism. In search of the target for the FER pathway, we found that the ROP11/ARAC10 protein physically interacted with the ABI2 phosphatase and enhanced its activity, thereby linking the FER pathway with the inhibition of ABA signaling.
College of Life Sciences,  Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081,  People's Republic of China.
Feng
F
Yu
Lichao
L
Qian
Candida
C
Nibau
Qiaohong
Q
Duan
Daniel
D
Kita
Kathryn
K
Levasseur
Xiaoqian
X
Li
Changqing
C
Lu
Hui
H
Li
Congcong
C
Hou
Legong
L
Li
Bob B
BB
Buchanan
Liangbi
L
Chen
Alice Y
AY
Cheung
Dongping
D
Li
Sheng
S
Luan
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
D000040:Abscisic Acid; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D005966:Glucuronidase; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins; C522131:At3g51550 protein, Arabidopsis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C106443:ABI2 protein, Arabidopsis; C472133:ROP10 protein, Arabidopsis; C572957:ROP11 protein, Arabidopsis