Role of histone deacetylases HDA6 and HDA19 in ABA and abiotic stress response

Our recent study revealed the involvement of the Arabidopsis histone deacetylase HDA6 in modulating ABA and salt stress responses. In this report, we further investigated the role of HDA19 in ABA and salt stress responses. The Arabidopsis HDA19 T-DNA insertion mutant, hda19-1, displayed a phenotype that was hypersensitive to ABA and salt stress. Compared with wild-type plants, the expression of ABA responsive genes, ABI1, ABI2, KAT1, KAT2 and RD29B, was decreased in hda19-1 plants when treated with ABA. Our study indicates that HDA6 and HDA19 may play a redundant role in modulating seed germination and salt stress response, as well as ABA- and salt stress-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis.