ABA Mediates Plant Development and Abiotic Stress via Alternative Splicing

Abstract

Alternative splicing (AS) exists in eukaryotes to increase the complexity and adaptability of systems under biophysiological conditions by increasing transcriptional and protein diversity. As a classic hormone, abscisic acid (ABA) can effectively control plant growth, improve stress resistance, and promote dormancy. At the transcriptional level, ABA helps plants respond to the outside world by regulating transcription factors through signal transduction pathways to regulate gene expression. However, at the post-transcriptional level, the mechanism by which ABA can regulate plant biological processes by mediating alternative splicing is not well understood. Therefore, this paper briefly introduces the mechanism of ABA-induced alternative splicing and the role of ABA mediating AS in plant response to the environment and its own growth.

Editorial: Structural bioinformatics and biophysical approaches for understanding the plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses

“…Plants are exposed to a variety of environmental conditions that negatively impact their physiology and yields (Rivero et al, 2022;Sharma et al, 2022;Zandalinas and Mittler, 2022). Several studies identified mechanisms involving genes, proteins, and metabolites that underlie plant responses to stress conditions (Chen et al, 2022;Hassan et al, 2022;Huang et al, 2022;Mittler et al, 2022;Yang et al, 2022;Zhan et al, 2022). Some of these molecules were used to improve plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses (Li et al, 2022;Mahto et al, 2022;Wang and Komatsu, 2022;Zhao et al, 2022).…”

Genome-Wide Characterization and Expression Profiling of HD-Zip Genes in ABA-Mediated Processes in Fragaria vesca

“…Abscisic acid (ABA) is a very important plant hormone, and has been shown to regulate many aspects of plant growth and development including leaf senescence, seed dormancy, embryo maturation, and responses to drought and other environmental stresses [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Several genes from HD-Zip I are demonstrated to be involved in the ABA signaling pathway and in the regulation of plant developmental adaptation to environmental stresses [ 11 ].…”

Advances in the Molecular Mechanisms of Abscisic Acid and Gibberellins Functions in Plants 2.0

“…In line with this, the original research articles investigate the effects of ABA on epicuticular wax metabolism regulation in a citrus fruit cultivar [ 9 ], the regulation of WNK kinases and their comprehensive interaction with ABA components [ 10 ], CCD family members in poplar and their expression patterns in response to ABA and abiotic stress [ 11 ], the molecular function of NAC transcription factor PwNAC11 in drought stress [ 12 ], the interaction between AFPs and DELLA proteins [ 13 ], and the molecular mechanism by which AGB1 regulates the GA pathway in Arabidopsis [ 14 ]. The reviews published in this Special Issue focus on how ABA regulates plant development and stress tolerance through alternative splicing [ 15 ], the mechanisms of ABA-mediated drought stress responses in plants [ 16 ], the roles of ABA and GA in stem/root tuber development [ 17 ] and the molecular mechanisms underlying ABA and GA regulation of seed development from embryogenesis to maturation [ 18 ]. In this editorial, I sum up the most significant findings of these insightful works.…”

“…However, the mechanisms by which ABA can regulate plant development and tolerance to abiotic stress by mediating AS are not well understood. Yang et al [ 15 ] reported in their review that ABA mediates plant abiotic stress tolerance and development, particularly through AS events. First, the authors briefly revised the main roles of ABA in abiotic stress response, the regulatory network of ABA signaling and ABA functions in development by focusing on seed germination and flowering.…”

“…Next, they showed that ABA-induced AS occurs primarily in regulatory genes, such as transcription factors, protein kinases and splicing factors, as well as in genes of the ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis. Yang et al [ 15 ] highlighted that ABA affects the splicing of genes of its own signaling pathway and other genes, especially by regulating the expression of splicing factors, such as SR genes and U2AF. They reported that this results in different splicing isoforms by, thereby, increasing protein abundance and improving plant adaptation to harsh environmental conditions.…”