Seeing 'cool' and 'hot'--infrared thermography as a tool for non-invasive, high-throughput screening of Arabidopsis guard cell signalling mutants

• Published in: Journal of experimental botany Vol. 55; no. 400; pp. 1187 - 1193
• Main Authors: Wang, Y, Holroyd, G, Hetherington, A.M, Ng, C.K.Y
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.05.2004; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Abscisic Acid - metabolism; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Cell physiology; Cold Temperature; Drought; EMS mutants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genetic screening; Guard cells; Hot Temperature; Humidity; Infrared Rays; infrared thermography; Lesions; Limitations to Photosynthetic Performance; low humidity; Models, Biological; Molecular and cellular biology; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Plant cells; Plant Leaves - cytology; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plants; Signal Transduction; Stomata; Stomatal conductance; Thermography; infrared thermography; Seeds; Arabidopsis; Germination; Stomata; low humidity; Review; EMS mutants; Guard cell; Stress; Cruciferae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Humidity; Abscisic acid; Spermatophyta; Mutation; Drought
• ISSN: 0022-0957; 1460-2431
• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erh135

The use of Arabidopsis mutants defective in abscisic acid (ABA) perception has been instrumental in the understanding of stomatal function, in particular, ABA signalling in guard cells. The considerable attention devoted to ABA signalling in guard cells is due in part to (1) the fundamental role of ABA in drought stress and (2) the use of a screening protocol based on the sensitivity of seed germination to ABA. Such a screen has facilitated the isolation of ABA signalling mutants with genetic lesions that exert pleiotropic effects at the whole plant level. As such, there is a requirement for new approaches to complement the seed germination screen. The recent advances made in the use of infrared thermography as a non-invasive, high-throughput tool are reviewed here and the versatility of this technique for screening Arabidopsis defective in stomatal regulation is highlighted.