Nanosensors to Help Visualize Movements and Distribution of Plant Stress Hormone

University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) biologists have succeeded in visualizing the movement of abscisic acid (ABA), a key plant hormone responsible for growth and resistance to drought. Direct tracking of ABA allowed researchers to better understand the complex interactions involving ABA when a plant is subjected to drought or other stress.

The researchers developed what they call a "genetically-encoded reporter" to directly and instantaneously observe the movements of ABA within the mustard plant Arabidopsis. The reporters, called "ABAleons," contain two colored fluorescent proteins attached to an ABA-binding sensor protein. Once bound to ABA, the ABAleons change their fluorescence emission, which can be analyzed using a microscope. The researchers showed that ABA concentration changes and waves of ABA movement could be monitored in diverse tissues and individual cells over time and in response to stress.

The results of their study will allow researchers to conduct further research to determine how ABA helps plants respond to drought and other environmental stresses brought by the continuing increase in the atmosphere's carbon dioxide concentration.

For more about this research, read the UC San Diego news release at http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/biologists_develop_nanosensors_to_visualize_
movements_and_distribution_of_p.