New Publication – Benson et al., 2014

Benson, C.L., Kepka, M., Wunschel., C., Rajagopalan, N., Nelson, K.M., Christmann, A., Abrams, S.R., Griill, E., Loewen, M.C. (2014) Abscisic acid analogs as chemical probes for dissection of abscisic acid responses in Arabidopsis thaliana.  Phytochemistry. EPub ahead of Print, April 2014.

This work reposents a caollabortive effort between the labs of Dr. Grill in Germany and Dr. Abrams and Loewen in Canada.  In this work we have carried out a structure activity study of a selection of analogs of abscisic acid, looking at both in vitro characteristics by enzymatic assay and isothermal titration calorimietry, and physiological effect on germination, root growth and stomatal aperture.  Together the results highlight the selectivity and specificity of select analogs in physiological functions and for differentiating the functionalities of the broader family of abscisic acid receptors.