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Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone controlling responses to abiotic stresses and is sensed by proteins from the PYR/PYL/RCAR family. To explore the genetic contribution of PYLs toward ABA-dependent and ABA-independent processes, we generated and characterized high-order Arabidopsis mutants with mutations in the PYL family. We obtained a pyl quattuordecuple mutant and found that it was severely impaired in growth and failed to produce seeds. Thus, we carried out a detailed characterization of a pyl duodecuple mutant, pyr1pyl1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/10/11/12. The duodecuple mutant was extremely insensitive to ABA effects on seed germination, seedling growth, stomatal closure, leaf senescence, and gene expression. The activation of SnRK2 protein kinases by ABA was blocked in the duodecuple mutant, but, unexpectedly, osmotic stress activation of SnRK2s was enhanced. Our results demonstrate an important role of basal ABA signaling in growth, senescence, and abscission and reveal that PYLs antagonize ABA-independent activation of SnRK2s by osmotic stress.
Zhao et al. (Fri,) studied this question.