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Overexpression of the Arabidopsis α-expansin gene AtEXPA1 accelerates stomatal opening by decreasing the volumetric elastic modulus

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Abstract

Guard cell walls of stomata are highly specialized in plants. Previous research focused on the structure and anatomy of guard cell walls, but little is known about guard cell regulation during stomata movement. In this work, we investigate the possible biological role of the Arabidopsis expansin gene AtEXPA1 in stomatal opening. The AtEXPA1 promoter drove the expression of the GUS reporter gene specifically in guard cells. Light-induced stomatal opening was accelerated in 35S::AtEXPA1 lines, whereas the anti-AtEXPA1 antibody decelerated light-induced stomatal opening. The inhibition of the anti-AtEXPA1 antibody on stomatal opening was largely dependent on the environmental pH. The volumetric elastic modulus (ε) was measured as an indicator of changes in the cell wall. The ε value of guard cells in 35S::AtEXPA1 lines was smaller than in the wild types. The putative role of AtEXPA1 as controller of stomatal opening rate and its regulation are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2006CB100100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30721062) and the “111 Project” (No. B06003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Xiu-Qing Zhang, Peng-Cheng Wei, Yan-Mei Xiong, Yi Yang, Jia Chen & Xue-Chen Wang

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  1. Xiu-Qing Zhang
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  2. Peng-Cheng Wei
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Correspondence to Xue-Chen Wang.

Additional information

Communicated by K. Chong.

X.-Q. Zhang and P.-C. Wei contributed equally to this work.

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Zhang, XQ., Wei, PC., Xiong, YM. et al. Overexpression of the Arabidopsis α-expansin gene AtEXPA1 accelerates stomatal opening by decreasing the volumetric elastic modulus. Plant Cell Rep 30, 27–36 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0937-2

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