Osmotic stress represses strigolactone biosynthesis in Lotus japonicus roots: exploring the interaction between strigolactones and ABA under abiotic stress

Main conclusion Strigolactone changes and cross talk with ABA unveil a picture of root-specific hormonal dynamics under stress. Abstract Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid-derived hormones influencing diverse aspects of development and communication with (micro)organisms, and proposed as mediators of environmental stimuli in resource allocation processes; to contribute to adaptive adjustments, therefore, their pathway must be responsive to environmental cues. To investigate the relationship between SLs and abiotic stress in Lotus japonicus, we compared wild-type and SLdepleted plants, and studied SL metabolism in roots stressed osmotically and/or phosphate starved. SL-depleted plants showed increased stomatal conductance, both under normal and stress conditions, and impaired resistance to drought associated with slower stomatal closure in response to abscisic acid (ABA). This confirms that SLs contribute to drought resistance in species other than Arabidopsis. However, we also observed that osmotic stress rapidly and strongly decreased SL concentration in tissues and exudates of wild-type Lotus roots, by acting on the transcription of biosynthetic and transporter-encoding genes and independently of phosphate abundance. Pretreatment with exogenous SLs inhibited the osmotic stressinduced ABA increase in wild-type roots and downregulated the transcription of the ABA biosynthetic gene