美国加州大学河滨分校Sean R. Cutler团队最新研究利用特定的脱落酸（ABA）受体激动剂动态控制植物用水。 10月25日出版的《科学》发表了这项成果。

研究人员指出目前最重要的限制是小麦（广泛种植的主食作物）和番茄的生物活性差。为了解决这一局限性，研究人员结合了虚拟筛选、X射线晶体学和结构指导设计，研发了opabactin（OP），这是一种ABA模拟物，其受体亲和力相对于ABA提高了约7倍，在植物体内最高可提高10倍。在拟南芥中的研究揭示了III型受体PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE-LIKE 2对OP的高效抗蒸腾作用。

因此，虚拟筛选和结构指导的优化有利于新型激动剂的研发，而新型激动剂利于控制作物的非生物胁迫耐受性和水分利用。

据悉，干旱在全球范围内造成农作物损失，并且随着世界变暖，其影响可能进一步增加。这促使研究人员研发用于减轻干旱对农业影响的小分子。

附：英文原文

Title: Dynamic control of plant water use using designed ABA receptor agonists

Author: Aditya S. Vaidya, Jonathan D. M. Helander, Francis C. Peterson, Dezi Elzinga, Wim Dejonghe, Amita Kaundal, Sang-Youl Park, Zenan Xing, Ryousuke Mega, Jun Takeuchi, Bardia Khanderahoo, Steven Bishay, Brian F. Volkman, Yasushi Todoroki, Masanori Okamoto, Sean R. Cutler

Issue&Volume: 2019/10/25

Abstract: Drought causes crop losses worldwide, and its impact is expected to increase as the world warms. This has motivated the development of small-molecule tools for mitigating the effects of drought on agriculture. We show here that current leads are limited by poor bioactivity in wheat, a widely grown staple crop, and in tomato. To address this limitation, we combined virtual screening, x-ray crystallography, and structure-guided design to develop opabactin (OP), an abscisic acid (ABA) mimic with up to an approximately sevenfold increase in receptor affinity relative to ABA and up to 10-fold greater activity in vivo. Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana reveal a role of the type III receptor PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE-LIKE 2 for the antitranspirant efficacy of OP. Thus, virtual screening and structure-guided optimization yielded newly discovered agonists for manipulating crop abiotic stress tolerance and water use.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8848

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6464/eaaw8848