Chemical biology approach for modulating plant defense system
Postdoctoral Researcher
K. Yoshida
Discovery of small molecules that regulate plant stress responses is of great importance not only to the elucidation of plant defense system but to the agricultural aspects such as protection of crops in a changing climate often observed recently. The bioprobes that modulate phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, which is involved in multiple processes in plants such as water stress control, seed dormancy, immune and growth would contribute to unveil signaling mechanisms whereas ABA receptors are encoded by multiple genes (e.g. 14 genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana), making it difficult to genetically clarify their physiological roles in plants. So far chemical array screening identified ABA antagonists (RK438 and RK460) that physically bind to one of A. thaliana ABA receptors PYR1 from approximately 20,000 compounds. Further screening of agonists and antagonists that interact to other ABA receptors would present the potential of chemical biology approach to strengthen studies on plant defense.