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Biological Chemistry

New Plant Hormone Partners

Two studies uncover a protein family that mediates abscisic acid's activity, which includes controlling fruit ripening and stress responses

by Carmen Drahl
May 4, 2009 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 87, Issue 18

A pair of studies has uncovered new receptors for abscisic acid, a plant hormone that controls fruit ripening and stress responses. The proteins through which abscisic acid exerts its effects aren't fully understood, but a subclass of protein phosphatase enzymes is known to repress abscisic acid's effects. Independent teams led by Erwin Grill of the Technical University of Munich and Sean R. Cutler of the University of California, Riverside, found the new receptors, a 14-protein family that counteracts the phosphatases' braking effect. Grill and coworkers found the family with a yeast two-hybrid screening technique (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1172408). The 14-protein family includes at least one member that acts as a receptor for pyrabactin, a synthetic seed germination blocker that affects some abscisic acid pathways. Because Cutler and coworkers happened to be searching for proteins that bind to the pyrabactin receptor, they independently found the same receptors (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1173041). Both teams showed that (+)-abscisic acid, the naturally occurring stereoisomer, binds to one of the 14 proteins, which in turn binds to one of the phosphatases and reverses its braking effect.

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