1. The potassium transporter TaNHX2 interacts with TaGAD1 to promote drought tolerance via modulating stomatal aperture in wheat.
- Author
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Jinpeng Li, Xingbei Liu, Shumin Chang, Wei Chu, Jingchen Lin, Hui Zhou, Zhuoran Hu, Mancang Zhang, Mingming Xin, Yingyin Yao, Weilong Guo, Xiaodong Xie, Huiru Peng, Zhongfu Ni, Qixin Sun, Yu Long, and Zhaorong Hu
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DROUGHT tolerance , *STOMATA , *GLUTAMATE decarboxylase , *DROUGHT management , *POTASSIUM , *AGRICULTURAL productivity , *WHEAT , *WINTER wheat - Abstract
Drought is a major global challenge in agriculture that decreases crop production. 1-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) interfaces with drought stress in plants; however, a mechanistic understanding of the interaction between GABA accumulation and drought response remains to be established. Here we showed the potassium/proton exchanger TaNHX2 functions as a positive regulator in drought resistance in wheat by mediating cross-talk between the stomatal aperture and GABA accumulation. TaNHX2 interacted with glutamate decarboxylase TaGAD1, a key enzyme that synthesizes GABA from glutamate. Furthermore, TaNHX2 targeted the C-terminal auto-inhibitory domain of TaGAD1, enhanced its activity, and promoted GABA accumulation under drought stress. Consistent with this, the tanhx2 and tagad1 mutants showed reduced drought tolerance, and transgenic wheat with enhanced TaNHX2 expression had a yield advantage under water deficit without growth penalty. These results shed light on the plant stomatal movement mechanism under drought stress and the TaNHX2-TaGAD1 module may be harnessed for amelioration of negative environmental effects in wheat as well as other crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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