Expression of a grape calcium-dependent protein kinase ACPK1 in Arabidopsis thaliana promotes plant growth and confers abscisic acid-hypersensitivity in germination, postgermination growth, and stomatal movement.

Calcium is an important second messenger involved in abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are the best characterized calcium sensor in plants and are believed to be important components in plant hormone signaling. However, in planta genetic evidence has been lacking to link CDPK with ABA-regulated biological functions. We previously identified an ABA-stimulated CDPK from grape berry, which is potentially involved in ABA signaling. Here we report that heterologous overexpression of ACPK1 in Arabidopsis promotes significantly plant growth and enhances ABA-sensitivity in seed germination, early seedling growth and stomatal movement, providing evidence that ACPK1 is involved in ABA signal transduction as a positive regulator, and suggesting that the ACPK1 gene may be potentially used for elevating plant biomass production.