The role of SPEN3 in stomatal development and plant growth in Arabidopsis thaliana
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Stomata are small openings on the surface of the leaves, which are crucial for plants’ gas
exchange. Thisstudy focused on analyzing stomatal density and conductance in plants deficient
in the SPEN3 gene. SPEN3, as an RNA-binding protein, assists in transcriptional regulation,
posttranscriptional processing, and nuclear export of mRNA. By growing plants under
controlled conditions, taking stomatal imprints and measuring stomatal conductance we were
able to assess stomatal traits in wild-type and spen3 mutants. Those assessments showed a lower
stomatal density on the bottom leaf side of the spen3 mutants compared to wild type plants,
whereas no statistically significant differences in stomatal conductance or plant growth were
observed. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of SPEN3 in plant water use
efficiency.
Description
Keywords
Stomata, Stomatal development, Stomatal density, Stomatal conductance, SPEN3, Arabidopsis thaliana