Thirsty plants and beyond: structural mechanisms of abscisic acid perception and signaling

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone with important functions in stress protection and physiology. Recently, the PYR/PYL/RCAR family of intracellular ABA receptors was identified. These receptors directly link ABA perception to a canonical ABA signaling pathway, in which ABA-bound receptors bind and inhibit type 2C phosphatases. High resolution crystal structures of members of this family have been solved in all relevant states: as apo receptors, bound to ABA, and as receptor-ABA-phosphatase complexes. Together, these structures provide a detailed gate-latch-lock mechanism of ABA recognition, receptor-PP2C interaction, and inhibition of the PP2C phosphatase activity and provide a basis for the design of synthetic ABA agonists for stress protection of crop plants.