Drought stress modulates oxylipin signature by eliciting 12-OPDA as a potent regulator of stomatal aperture.

Through evolution, plants have developed a myriad of strategies to adapt to environmental perturbations. Using 3 Arabidopsis ecotypes in conjunction with various transgenic and mutant lines, we provide evidence that wounding and drought differentially alter the metabolic signatures derived from the 2 main competing oxylipin-pathway branches, namely the JA and its precursor 12-OPDA produced by Allene oxide synthase (AOS) branch, and aldehydes and corresponding alcohols generated by Hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) branch. Specifically, we show that wounding induces production of both HPL and AOS-derived metabolites whereas, drought stress only elicits production of hexenal but suppresses hexenol, and further uncouples the conversion of 12-OPDA to JA. This finding led to uncovering of 12-OPDA as a functional convergence point of oxylipin and ABA pathways to control stomatal aperture in plant adaptive responses to drought. In addition, using transgenic lines overexpressing plastidial and extraplastidial HPL enzyme establish the strong interdependence of AOS- and HPL-branch pathways, and the importance of this linkage in tailoring plant adaptive responses to the nature of perturbations.