Dynamic subnuclear relocalization of WRKY40, a potential new mechanism of ABA-dependent transcription factor regulation.

The phytohormone ABA plays a major role during plant development, e.g. seed maturation and seed germination, and during adaptation to abiotic stresses like stomatal aperture regulation. The three closely related WRKY transcription factors WRKY18, WRKY40 and WRKY60 function in ABA signal transduction. We recently demonstrated that WRKY18 and WRKY40 but not WRKY60 localize to nuclear bodies in A. thaliana mesophyll protoplasts. WRKY40, a negative regulator of ABA-dependent inhibition of seed germination, relocalizes from PNBs to the nucleoplasm in the presence of ABA in a dynamic and phosphorylation-dependent manner. We propose that subnuclear relocalization of WRKY40 might constitute a new regulatory mechanism of ABA-dependent modulation of transcription factor activity.