ZmGCT1/2 negatively regulate drought tolerance in maize by inhibiting ZmSLAC1 to maintain guard cell turgor.

ABSTRACT: Stomata, which are essential for the exchange of CO₂ and water vapor between plant leaves and the atmosphere, are regulated by a variety of environmental and internal factors. In this study, we identified and characterized two genes, Guard Cell Turgor Maintaining 1 (GCT1) and its closest homolog GCT2, which encode rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (RAF)-like protein kinases that play a critical role in maintaining guard cell turgor in Zea mays. We found that overexpression of ZmGCT1 and ZmGCT2 confers resistance to abscisic acid (ABA)-promoted stomatal closure, whereas the zmgct1 zmgct2 double loss-of-function mutants exhibit a loss of guard cell turgor, resulting in nearly closed stomata even under favorable growth conditions. A d

SUBMITTER: Feng Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12012462 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature