ß-amylase1 mutant Arabidopsis plants show improved drought tolerance due to reduced starch breakdown in guard cells

ABSTRACT: In plants, drought stress is a major growth limiting factor causing cell water loss through open stomata. In this study, guard cell-specific transcripts from drought-stressed Arabidopsis plants were analyzed and a down-regulation of β-amylase 1 (BAM1) was found. In previous studies, BAM1 was shown to be involved in stomatal starch degradation under ambient conditions. Impaired starch breakdown of bam1 mutant plants was accompanied by decreased stomatal opening. Here, we show that drought tolerance of bam1 mutant plants is improved as compared to wild type controls. Microarray-analysis of stomata-specific transcripts from bam1 mutant plants revealed a significant down-regulation of genes encoding aquaporins, auxin- and ethylene-responsive factors and cell-wall modifying enzymes. This expres

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

SUBMITTER: Christian Prasch 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-66105 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress