The role of SPEN3 in stomatal development and plant growth in Arabidopsis thaliana

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.