Ethyl methane-sulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized Arabidopsis M-2 populations were screened in low-K+ medium using the root-bending assay. Forty-two putative low-k(+)-tolerant (lkt) mutants were selected from 150 000 tested M-2 seedlings, and two of these mutants maintained their low-K+-tolerant phenotype in their M-3 generations, respectively. Genetic analysis showed that either one of these two mutants has a monogenic recessive mutation in a nuclear gene, and that the two mutations in two independent mutants are allelic to each other.
Patch clamp techniques were employed to investigate if calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) be involved in the signal transduction pathways of stomatal movement regulation by the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) in Vicia faba. Stomatal opening was completely inhibited by external application of 1 μmol/L ABA, and such ABA inhibition was significantly reversed by the addition of CDPK inhibitor trifluoperazine (TFP). The inward whole cell K + currents were inhibited by 60% in the presence of 1 μmol/L intracellular ABA, and this inhibition was completely abolished by the addition of CDPK competitive substrate histone Ⅲ S. The results suggest that CDPKs may be involved in the signal transduction cascades of ABA regulated stomatal movements.
