The clade A protein phosphatase 2C Highly ABA-Induced 1 (HAI1) plays an important role in stress signaling, yet little information is available on HAI1-regulated phosphoproteins. Quantitative phosphoproteomics identified phosphopeptides of increased abundance inhai1-2in unstressed plants and in plants exposed to low-water potential (drought) stress. The identity and localization of the phosphoproteins as well as enrichment of specific phosphorylation motifs indicated that these phosphorylation sites may be regulated directly by HAI1 or by HAI1-regulated kinases including mitogen-activated protein kinases, sucrose non-fermenting–related kinase 2, or casein kinases. One of the phosphosites putatively regulated by HAI1 was S313/S314 of AT-Hook–Like10 (AHL10), a DNA-binding protein of unclear function. HAI1 could directly dephosphorylate AHL10 in vitro, and the level ofHAI1expression affected the abundance of phosphorylated AHL10 in vivo. AHL10 S314 phosphorylation was critical for restriction of plant growth under low-water potential stress and for regulation of jasmonic acid and auxin-related gene expression as well as expression of developmental regulators includingShootmeristemless. These genes were also misregulated inhai1-2. AHL10 S314 phosphorylation was required for AHL10 complexes to form foci within the nucleoplasm, suggesting that S314 phosphorylation may control AHL10 association with the nuclear matrix or with other transcriptional regulators. These data identify a set of HAI1-affected phosphorylation sites, show that HAI1-regulated phosphorylation of AHL10 S314 controls AHL10 function and localization, and indicate that HAI1-AHL10 signaling coordinates growth with stress and defense responses.

The Clade A protein phosphatase 2C Highly ABA-Induced 1 (HAI1) plays an important role in stress signaling yet little information is available on HAI1-regulated phosphoproteins.Quantitative phosphoproteomics identified phosphopeptides of increased abundance in hai1-2 in unstressed plants and in plants exposed to low water potential (drought) stress. The identity and localization of the phosphoproteins as well as enrichment of specific phosphorylation motifs indicated that these phosphorylation sites may be regulated directly by HAI1 or by HAI1regulated kinases including Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MPKs), Sucrose-non fermenting Related Kinase 2 (SnRK2s) or Casein Kinases. One of the phosphosites putatively regulated by HAI1 was S313/S314 of AT Hook-Like10 (AHL10), a DNA binding protein of unclear function.HAI1 could directly dephosphorylate AHL10 in vitro and the level of HAI1 expression affected the abundance of phosphorylated AHL10 in vivo. AHL10 S314 phosphorylation was critical for restriction of plant growth under low water potential stress and for regulation of Jasmonic Acid and Auxin-related gene expression as well as expression of developmental regulators including Shootmeristemless (STM). These genes were also mis-regulated in hai1-2. AHL10 S314 phosphorylation was required for AHL10 complexes to form foci within the nucleoplasm, suggesting that S314 phosphorylation may control AHL10 association with the nuclear matrix or with other transcriptional regulators. These data identify a set of HAI1-affected phosphorylation sites, show that HAI1-regulated phosphorylation of AHL10 S314 controls AHL10 function and localization and also indicate that HAI1-AHL10 signaling coordinates growth with stress and defense responses.

The Highly ABA-Induced 1 (HAI1) protein phosphatase is a central component of drought-related signaling. A screen for HAI1-interacting proteins identified HAI1-Interactor 1 (HIN1), a nuclear protein of unknown function which could be dephosphorylated by HAI1 in vitro. HIN1 colocalization and interaction with serine-arginine rich (SR) splicing factors and appearance of nuclear speckle-localized HIN1 during low water potential (ψw) stress suggested a pre-mRNA splicing-related function. RNA sequencing of Arabidopsis Col-0 wild type identified more than 500 introns where moderate severity low ψw altered intron retention (IR) frequency. Surprisingly, nearly 90% of these had increased splicing efficiency (decreased IR) during stress. For one-third of these introns, ectopic HIN1 expression (35S:HIN1) in unstressed plants mimicked the increased splicing efficiency seen in stress-treated wild type. HIN1 bound to a GAA-repeat, Exonic Splicing Enhancer-like RNA motif enriched in flanking sequence around HIN1-regulated introns. Genes with stress and HIN1-affected splicing efficiency were enriched for abiotic stress and signaling-related functions. The 35S:HIN1 plants had enhanced growth maintenance during low ψw, while hin1 mutants had reduced growth, further indicating the role of HIN1 in drought response. HIN1 is annotated as an MYB/SANT domain protein but has limited homology to other MYB/SANT proteins and is not related to known yeast or metazoan RNA-binding proteins or splicing regulators. Together these data identify HIN1 as a plant-specific RNA-binding protein, show a specific effect of drought acclimation to promote splicing efficiency of IR-prone introns, and also discover HAI1–HIN1 interaction and dephosphorylation that connects stress signaling to splicing regulation.