Autophagy controls reactive oxygen species homeostasis in guard cells that is essential for stomatal opening

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) function as key signaling molecules to inhibit stomatal opening and promote stomatal closure in response to diverse environmental stresses. However, how guard cells maintain basal intracellular ROS levels is not yet known. This study aimed to determine the role of autophagy in the maintenance of basal ROS levels in guard cells. We isolated the <i>Arabidopsis autophagy-related 2</i> (<i>atg2</i>) mutant, which is impaired in stomatal opening in response to light and low CO₂ concentrations. Disruption of other autophagy genes, including <i>ATG5</i>, <i>ATG7</i>, <i>ATG10</i>, and <i>ATG12</i>, also caused similar stomatal defects. The <i>atg</i> mutants constitutively accumulated high levels of ROS in guard cells, and antioxidants such as ascorbate and glutathione rescued ROS accumulation and stomatal opening. Furthermore, the <i>atg</i> mutations increased the number and aggregation of peroxisomes in guard cells, and these peroxisomes exhibited reduced activity of the ROS scavenger catalase and elevated hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as visualized using the peroxisome-targeted H₂O₂ sensor HyPer. Moreover, such ROS accumulation decreased by the application of 2-hydroxy-3-butynoate, an inhibitor of peroxisomal H₂O₂-producing glycolate oxidase. Our results showed that autophagy controls guard cell ROS homeostasis by eliminating oxidized peroxisomes, thereby allowing stomatal opening.