IJMS, Vol. 21, Pages 819: GAI Functions in the Plant Response to Dehydration Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana (International Journal of Molecular Sciences)

DELLA (GAI/RGA/RGL1/RGL2/RGL3) proteins are key negative regulators in GA (gibberellin) signaling and are involved in regulating plant growth as a response to environmental stresses. It has been shown that the DELLA protein PROCERA (PRO) in tomato promotes drought tolerance, but its molecular mechanism remains unknown. Here, we showed that the gai-1 (gibberellin insensitive 1) mutant (generated from the gai-1 (Ler) allele (with a 17 amino acid deletion within the DELLA domain of GAI) by backcrossing gai-1 (Ler) with Col-0 three times), the gain-of-function mutant of GAI (GA INSENSITIVE) in Arabidopsis, increases drought tolerance. The stomatal density of the gai-1 mutant was increased but its stomatal aperture was decreased under abscisic acid (ABA) treatment conditions, suggesting that the drought tolerance of the gai-1 mutant is a complex trait. We further tested the interactions between DELLA proteins and ABF2 (abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive element (ABRE)-binding transcription factors) and found that there was a strong interaction between DELLA proteins and ABF2. Our results provide new insight into DELLA proteins and their role in drought stress tolerance.