Transcription co-activator Arabidopsis ANGUSTIFOLIA3 (AN3) regulates water-use efficiency and drought tolerance by modulating stomatal density and improving root architecture by the transrepression of YODA (YDA)

One goal of modern agriculture is the improvement of plant drought tolerance and water-use efficiency (WUE). Although stomatal density has been linked to WUE, the causal molecular mechanisms and engineered alternations of this relationship are not yet fully understood. Moreover, YODA (YDA), which is a MAPKK kinase gene, negatively regulates stomatal development. BR-INSENSITIVE 2 interacts with phosphorylates and inhibits YDA. However, whether YDA is modulated in the transcriptional level is still unclear. Plants lacking ANGUSTIFOLIA3 (AN3) activity have high drought stress tolerance because of low stomatal densities and improved root architecture. Such plants also exhibit enhanced WUE through declining transpiration without a demonstrable reduction in biomass accumulation. AN3 negatively regulated YDA expression at the transcriptional level by target-gene analysis. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that AN3 was associated with a region of the YDA promoter in vivo. YDA mutation significantly decreased the stomatal density and root length of an3 mutant, thus proving the participation of YDA in an3 drought tolerance and WUE enhancement. These components form an AN3-YDA complex, which allows the integration of water deficit stress signalling into the production or spacing of stomata and cell proliferation, thus leading to drought tolerance and enhanced WUE.