The Arabidopsis ABI1 locus is essential for a wide spectrum of abscisic acid (ABA) responses throughout plant development. Here, ABI1 was shown to regulate stomatal aperture in leaves and mitotic activity in root meristems. The ABI1 gene was cloned and predicted to encode a signaling protein. Although its carboxyl-terminal domain is related to serine-threonine phosphatase 2C, the ABI1 protein has a unique amino-terminal extension containing an EF hand calcium-binding site. These results suggest that the ABI1 protein is a Ca ²⁺ -modulated phosphatase and functions to integrate ABA and Ca ²⁺ signals with phosphorylation-dependent response pathways.

Various data indicate that nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous signal in plants that mediates responses to several stimuli. Experimental evidence in support of such signalling roles for NO has been obtained via the application of NO, usually in the form of NO donors, via the measurement of endogenous NO, and through the manipulation of endogenous NO content by chemical and genetic means. Stomatal closure, initiated by abscisic acid (ABA), is effected through a complex symphony of intracellular signalling in which NO appears to be one component. Exogenous NO induces stomatal closure, ABA triggers NO generation, removal of NO by scavengers inhibits stomatal closure in response to ABA, and ABA-induced stomatal closure is reduced in mutants that are impaired in NO generation. The data indicate that ABA-induced guard cell NO generation requires both nitric oxide synthase-like activity and, in Arabidopsis, the NIA1 isoform of nitrate reductase (NR). NO stimulates mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity and cGMP production. Both these NO-stimulated events are required for ABA-induced stomatal closure. ABA also stimulates the generation of H₂O₂ in guard cells, and pharmacological and genetic data demonstrate that NO accumulation in these cells is dependent on such production. Recent data have extended this model to maize mesophyll cells where the induction of antioxidant defences by water stress and ABA required the generation of H₂O₂ and NO and the activation of a MAPK. Published data suggest that drought and salinity induce NO generation which activates cellular processes that afford some protection against the oxidative stress associated with these conditions. Exogenous NO can also protect cells against oxidative stress. Thus, the data suggest an emerging model of stress responses in which ABA has several ameliorative functions. These include the rapid induction of stomatal closure to reduce transpirational water loss and the activation of antioxidant defences to combat oxidative stress. These are two processes that both involve NO as a key signalling intermediate.

The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) MKK1 and MKK2 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases have been implicated in biotic and abiotic stress responses as part of a signaling cascade including MEKK1 and MPK4. Here, the double loss-of-function mutant (mkk1/2) of MKK1 and MKK2 is shown to have marked phenotypes in development and disease resistance similar to those of the single mekk1 and mpk4 mutants. Because mkk1 or mkk2 single mutants appear wild type, basal levels of MPK4 activity are not impaired in them, and MKK1 and MKK2 are in part functionally redundant in unchallenged plants. These findings are confirmed and extended by biochemical and molecular analyses implicating the kinases in jasmonate- and salicylate-dependent defense responses, mediated in part via the MPK4 substrate MKS1. In addition, transcriptome analyses delineate overlapping and specific effects of the kinases on global gene expression patterns demonstrating both redundant and unique functions for MKK1 and MKK2.