A phloem‐localized Arabidopsis metacaspase (AtMC3) improves drought tolerance

Pitsili, Eugenia; Rodriguez‐Trevino, Ricardo; Ruiz‐Solani, Nerea; Demir, Fatih; Kastanaki, Elizabeth; Dambire, Charlene; de Pedro-Jové, Roger; Vercammen, Dominique; Salguero-Linares, Jose; Hall, Hardy; Mantz, Melissa; Schuler, Martin; Tuominen, Hannele; Van Breusegem, Frank; Valls, Marc; Munné-Bosch, Sergi; Holdsworth, Michael J.; Huesgen, Pitter F.; Rodriguez-Villalon, Antia; Coll, Nuria S.

Abstract

Increasing drought phenomena pose a serious threat to agricultural productivity. Although plants have multiple ways to respond to the complexity of drought stress, the underlying mechanisms of stress sensing and signaling remain unclear. The role of the vasculature, in particular the phloem, in facilitating inter-organ communication is critical and poorly understood. Combining genetic, proteomic and physiological approaches, we investigated the role of AtMC3, a phloem-specific member of the metacaspase family, in osmotic stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Analyses of the proteome in plants with altered AtMC3 levels revealed differential abundance of proteins related to osmotic stress pointing into a role of the protein in water-stress-related responses. Overexpression of AtMC3 conferred drought tolerance by enhancing the differentiation of specific vascular tissues and maintaining higher levels of vascular-mediated transportation, while plants lacking the protein showed an impaired response to drought and inability to respond effectively to the hormone abscisic acid. Overall, our data highlight the importance of AtMC3 and vascular plasticity in fine-tuning early drought responses at the whole plant level without affecting growth or yield.

Citation

Pitsili, E., Rodriguez‐Trevino, R., Ruiz‐Solani, N., Demir, F., Kastanaki, E., Dambire, C., …Coll, N. S. (2023). A phloem‐localized Arabidopsis metacaspase (AtMC3) improves drought tolerance. New Phytologist, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19022

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 9, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 15, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 15, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 23, 2023
• Journal: New Phytologist
• Print ISSN: 0028-646X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8137
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19022
• Keywords: Abscisic acid; Arabidopsis thaliana; drought; hypoxia; metacaspases; osmotic stress; phloem
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/21917641
• Publisher URL: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.19022