Histone demethylases control root elongation in response to stress-signaling hormone abscisic acid

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays critical roles during plant growth and development in response to various stresses. Arabidopsis thaliana histone demethylases JUMONJI-C DOMAIN-CONTAINING PROTEIN 30 (JMJ30) and JMJ32 control ABA-mediated growth arrest during the post-germination stage (2-3 days after germination). However, the roles of JMJ30 and JMJ32 in ABA responses at later stages of plant development remain largely unknown. Here, we show that JMJ30 and JMJ32 mediate ABA responses during root development. In the presence of ABA, jmj30 jmj32 double mutants display longer primary roots than the wild type. Loss-of-function mutation in the SNF1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE 2.8 (SnRK2.8) gene also led to a longer primary root phenotype in response to ABA. Analysis of JMJ30/JMJ32 and SnRK2.8 expression suggested that they act in the same pathway to mediate ABA responses during root elongation at the seedling stage. Our findings highlight the importance of the JMJ30/JMJ32-SnRK2.8 module at two different developmental stages.