A possible CO2 conducting and concentrating mechanism in plant stomata SLAC1 channel.

Abstract

Background The plant SLAC1 is a slow anion channel in the membrane of stomatal guard cells, which controls the turgor pressure in the aperture-defining guard cells, thereby regulating the exchange of water vapour and photosynthetic gases in response to environmental signals such as drought, high levels of carbon dioxide, and bacterial invasion. Recent study demonstrated that bicarbonate is a small-molecule activator of SLAC1. Higher CO2 and HCO3 – concentration activates S-type anion channel currents in wild-type Arabidopsis guard cells. Based on the SLAC1 structure a theoretical model is derived to illustrate the activation of bicarbonate to SLAC1 channel. Meanwhile a possible CO2 conducting and concentrating mechanism of the SLAC1 is proposed.MethodologyThe homology structure of Arabidopsis thaliana SLAC1 (AtSLAC1) provides the structural basis for study of the conducting and concentrating mechanism of carbon dioxide in SLAC1 channels. The pKa values of ionizable amino acid side chains in AtSLAC1 are calculated using software PROPKA3.0, and the concentration of CO2 and anion HCO3 – are computed based on the chemical equilibrium theory.ConclusionsThe AtSLAC1 is modeled as a five-region channel with different pH values. The top and bottom layers of channel are the alkaline residue-dominated regions, and in the middle of channel there is the acidic region surrounding acidic residues His332. The CO2 concentration is enhanced around 104 times by the pH difference between these regions, and CO2 is stored in the hydrophobic region, which is a CO2 pool. The pH driven CO2 conduction from outside to inside balances the back electromotive force and maintain the influx of anions (e.g. Cl– and NO3 –) from inside to outside. SLAC1 may be a pathway providing CO2 for photosynthesis in the guard cells.