Environmental regulation of stomatal response in the Arabidopsis Cvi-0 ecotype

The Arabidopsis Cape Verde Islands (Cvi-0) ecotype is known to differ from other ecotypes with respect to environmental stress responses. We analyzed the stomatal behavior of Cvi-0 plants, in response to environmental signals. We investigated the responses of stomatal conductance and aperture to high [CO2] in the Cvi-0 and Col-0 ecotypes. Cvi-0 showed constitutively higher stomatal conductance and more stomatal opening than Col-0. Cvi-0 stomata opened in response to light, but the response was slow. Under low humidity, stomatal opening was increased in Cvi-0 compared to Col-0. We then assessed whether low humidity affects endogenous ABA levels in Cvi-0. In response to low humidity, Cvi-0 had much higher ABA levels than Col-0. However, epidermal peels experiments showed that Cvi-0 stomata were insensitive to ABA. Measurements of organic and inorganic ions in Cvi-0 guard cell protoplasts indicated an over-accumulation of osmoregulatory anions (malate and Cl-). This irregular anion homeostasis in the guard cells may explain the constitutive stomatal opening phenotypes of the Cvi-0 ecotype, which lacks high [CO2]-induced and low humidity-induced stomatal closure.