A hub for ABA signaling to the nucleus: significance of a cytosolic and nuclear dual-localized PPR protein SOAR1 acting downstream of Mg-chelatase H subunit.

SOAR1 is a cytosol-nucleus dual-localized pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein, which we indentified recently as a crucial regulator in the CHLH/ABAR (Mg-chelatase H subunit /putative ABA receptor)-mediated signaling pathway, acting downstream of CHLH/ABAR and upstream of a nuclear ABA-responsive bZIP transcription factor ABI5. Downregulation and upregulation of SOAR1 expression alter dramatically both ABA sensitivity and expression of a subset of key, nuclear ABA-responsive genes, suggesting that SOAR1 is a hub for ABA signaling to the nucleus, and CHLH/ABAR mediates a central signaling pathway to regulate downstream gene expression through SOAR1.