Abstract:

To cope with unpredictably environmental perturbations and sometimes stresses, plants have evolved with some mechanisms so that these developing stresses can be sensitively perceived and the physiology can be rapidly regulated. Such perception and regulation can be a kind of feed forward mechanism and may involve many biochemical and physiological processes and/or the expression of many genes. Although many dehydration responsive genes have been identified, much fewer of their functions have been known. Such stress induced responses should include the initial perception of the dehydration signal, then the complicated signal transduction and cellular transmission until to the final gene activation or expression. As an important plant stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) mediates many such responses. We believe that starting from the initial perception of dehydration to the gene expression leading to the stress induced ABA biosynthesis is the most important stress signal transduction pathway among all the plant responses to stresses. Identification of the genes involved and understanding their roles during stress perception and physiological regulation shall be the most important and interesting research field in the coming years.

从水分胁迫的识别到ABA积累的细胞信号转导
贾文锁1  邢 宇1 卢从明2  张建华3*

（1. 中国农业大学园艺系，北京100094；2. 中国科学院植物研究所光合作用研究中心，北京100093；
3.  香港浸会大学生物系，香港）

摘要： 由于植物在生长和发育过程中不可避免地要遭受各种环境胁迫的影响,植物只有通过对环境胁迫的快速感知和主动反应才得以生存和发展.植物这种对环境胁迫的快速感知和主动反应体现在环境胁迫下植物可以通过一系列基因的表达调控来实现各种抗逆的生理生化反应.虽然得以鉴定的水分胁迫应答基因越来越多,但其中只有极少的基因在抗逆中的基本功能已得到初步认识.从细胞对水分胁迫原初信号的感知到基因表达调控包括了一系列复杂的细胞逆境信息传递过程.脱落酸(abscisic acid, ABA)作为重要的细胞逆境信号物质介导了一系列基因表达,因此从细胞对水分胁迫原初信号的感知到编码ABA生物合成关键酶基因的表达是一条最为关键的细胞逆境信息传递途径.逆境应答基因功能的鉴定以及对整个细胞信号传递过程中详尽的分子机制的了解无疑是今后最有趣的也是最为重要的研究课题.

关键词： 水分胁迫；识别；转导；脱落酸

通讯作者。E-mail: jzhang @ hkbu.edu.hk.

Key words: water stress, perception, transduction, abscisic acid (ABA)