Work

Conserved and species-specific guard cell transcriptional responses and drought physiology in Arabidopsis and tomato

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Crop productivity is severely threatened by climate change-related stresses, including drought stress. During drought, physiological and transcriptional changes occur in guard cells to regulate stomatal closure and minimize excess water loss. Tomato is an important crop species in temperate regions, with a high water requirement. To further understand the drought response in tomato, we performed RNA-seq on guard cell-enriched samples of plants subjected to severe drought stress. We investigated drought-responsive changes in gene expression and alternative splicing, including the role of ABA signaling genes. Comparing this data to previous work on the model species Arabidopsis thaliana , we highlighted an increased level of transcriptional reprogramming in tomato. These differences translated to the physiological level, where we observed earlier stomatal closure during progressive drought in tomato compared to A. thaliana using thermal imaging. Overall, this study sheds new light on tomato GCs during drought, and emphasizes the importance of translational studies on crop species.

Source: Frontiers in Plant Science

DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1943556

Authors: Hasna Khan, Gabrielle Marczell, Asher Pasha, Nicholas J. Provart

Institution: University of Toronto

Language: English

Topic: Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801