GORK K channel structure and gating vital to informing stomatal engineering.

The Arabidopsis GORK channel is a major pathway for guard cell K efflux that facilitates stomatal closure. GORK is an outwardly-rectifying member of the cyclic-nucleotide binding-homology domain (CNBHD) family of K channels with close homologues in all other angiosperms known to date. Its bioengineering has demonstrated the potential for enhanced carbon assimilation and water use efficiency.

A Promoter Collection for Cell-Targeted Analysis Within the Stomatal Complex.

Stomatal aperture is driven by changes in turgor of the guard cells that surround the stomatal pore. Epidermal cells immediately surrounding the guard cells are thought to contribute to the kinetics of aperture changes through changes in their turgor that opposes the guard cells and thought their putative roles in solute storage for use by the guard cells. Nonetheless, our knowledge remains fragmentary of surrounding cell mechanics, in large part because the tools and strategies needed to target the surrounding cells independent of the guard cells are limited.

A C4 plant K+ channel accelerates stomata to enhance C3 photosynthesis and water use efficiency.

Accelerating stomatal kinetics through synthetic optogenetics and mutations that enhance guard cell K+ flux has proven a viable strategy to improve water use efficiency and biomass production. Stomata of the model C4 species Gynandropsis gynandra, a relative of the C3 plant Arabidopsis thaliana, are similarly fast to open and close. We identified and cloned the guard cell rectifying outward K+ channel (GROK) of Gynandropsis and showed that GROK is preferentially expressed in stomatal guard cells.

Dual function of overexpressing plasma membrane H-ATPase in balancing carbon-water use.

Stomata respond slowly to changes in light when compared with photosynthesis, undermining plant water-use efficiency (WUE). We know much about stomatal mechanics, yet efforts to accelerate stomatal responsiveness have been limited despite the breadth of potential targets for manipulation. Here, we use mechanistic modeling to establish a hierarchy of putative targets affecting stomatal kinetics.

Guard cell K+ channels of Kalanchoë follow the diel cycle of crassulacean acid metabolism.

The activity of outward-rectifying but not inward-rectifying K + channels of stomata follows the diel cycle of crassulacean acid metabolism.

Surrounded by luxury: The necessities of subsidiary cells.

The evolution of stomata marks one of the key advances that enabled plants to colonise dry land while allowing gas exchange for photosynthesis. In large measure, stomata retain a common design across species that incorporates paired guard cells with little variation in structure. By contrast, the cells of the stomatal complex immediately surrounding the guard cells vary widely in shape, size and count.

Arabidopsis SNARE SYP132 impacts on PIP2;1 trafficking and function in salinity stress.

In plants so-called plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs) are major water channels governing plant water status. Membrane trafficking contributes to functional regulation of major PIPs and is crucial for abiotic stress resilience. Arabidopsis PIP2;1 is rapidly internalised from the plasma membrane in response to high salinity to regulate osmotic water transport, but knowledge of the underlying mechanisms is fragmentary.

A charged existence: A century of transmembrane ion transport in plants.

If the past century marked the birth of membrane transport as a focus for research in plants, the past 50 years has seen the field mature from arcane interest to a central pillar of plant physiology. Ion transport across plant membranes accounts for roughly 30% of the metabolic energy consumed by a plant cell, and it underpins virtually every aspect of plant biology, from mineral nutrition, cell expansion, and development to auxin polarity, fertilization, plant pathogen defense, and senescence. The means to quantify ion flux through individual transporters, even single channel proteins, became widely available as voltage clamp methods expanded from giant algal cells to the fungus Neurospora crassa in the 1970s and the cells of angiosperms in the 1980s.

The role of BST4 in the pyrenoid of .

In many eukaryotic algae, CO fixation by Rubisco is enhanced by a CO-concentrating mechanism, which utilizes a Rubisco-rich organelle called the pyrenoid. The pyrenoid is traversed by a network of thylakoid-membranes called pyrenoid tubules, proposed to deliver CO. In the model alga (), the pyrenoid tubules have been proposed to be tethered to the Rubisco matrix by a bestrophin-like transmembrane protein, BST4.

Speedy stomata of a C plant correlate with enhanced K channel gating.

Stomata are microscopic pores at the surface of plant leaves that facilitate gaseous diffusion to support photosynthesis. The guard cells around each stoma regulate the pore aperture. Plants that carry out C photosynthesis are usually more resilient than C plants to stress, and their stomata operate over a lower dynamic range of CO within the leaf.

Mother trees, altruistic fungi, and the perils of plant personification.

There are growing doubts about the true role of the common mycorrhizal networks (CMN or wood wide web) connecting the roots of trees in forests. We question the claims of a substantial carbon transfer from 'mother trees' to their offspring and nearby seedlings through the CMN. Recent reviews show that evidence for the 'mother tree concept' is inconclusive or absent.

OnGuard3e: A predictive, ecophysiology-ready tool for gas exchange and photosynthesis research.

Gas exchange across the stomatal pores of leaves is a focal point in studies of plant-environmental relations. Stomata regulate atmospheric exchange with the inner air spaces of the leaf. They open to allow CO entry for photosynthesis and close to minimize water loss.

Analyzing Protein-Protein Interactions Using the Split-Ubiquitin System.

The split-ubiquitin technology was developed over 20 years ago as an alternative to Gal4-based, yeast-two-hybrid methods to identify interacting protein partners. With the introduction of mating-based methods for split-ubiquitin screens, the approach has gained broad popularity because of its exceptionally high transformation efficiency, utility in working with full-length membrane proteins, and positive selection with little interference from spurious interactions. Recent advances now extend these split-ubiquitin methods to the analysis of interactions between otherwise soluble proteins and tripartite protein interactions.

Engineering stomata for enhanced carbon capture and water-use efficiency.

Stomatal pores facilitate gaseous exchange between the inner air spaces of the leaf and the atmosphere. As gatekeepers that balance CO entry for photosynthesis against transpirational water loss, they are a focal point for efforts to improve crop performance, especially in the efficiency of water use, within the changing global environment. Until recently, engineering strategies had focused on stomatal conductance in the steady state.

Unidirectional versus bidirectional brushing: Simulating wind influence on .

Plants acclimate to various types of mechanical stresses through thigmomorphogenesis and alterations in their mechanical properties. Although resemblance between wind- and touch-induced responses provides the foundation for studies where wind influence was mimicked by mechanical perturbations, factorial experiments revealed that it is not always straightforward to extrapolate results induced by one type of perturbation to the other. To investigate whether wind-induced changes in morphological and biomechanical traits can be reproduced, we subjected to two vectorial brushing treatments.

Environmental morphing enables informed dispersal of the dandelion diaspore.

Animal migration is highly sensitised to environmental cues, but plant dispersal is considered largely passive. The common dandelion, , bears an intricate haired pappus facilitating flight. The pappus enables the formation of a separated vortex ring during flight; however, the pappus structure is not static but reversibly changes shape by closing in response to moisture.

Engineering a K channel 'sensory antenna' enhances stomatal kinetics, water use efficiency and photosynthesis.

Stomata of plant leaves open to enable CO entry for photosynthesis and close to reduce water loss via transpiration. Compared with photosynthesis, stomata respond slowly to fluctuating light, reducing assimilation and water use efficiency. Efficiency gains are possible without a cost to photosynthesis if stomatal kinetics can be accelerated.