An ARIA-interacting AP2 domain protein is a novel component of ABA signaling

ADAP is an AP2-domain protein that interacts with ARIA, which, in turn, interacts with ABF2, a bZIP class transcription factor. ABF2 regulates various aspects of the abscisic acid (ABA) response by controlling the expression of a subset of ABA-responsive genes. Our expression analyses indicate that ADAP is expressed in roots, emerging young leaves, and flowers. We found that adap knockout mutant lines germinate more efficiently than wild-type plants and that the mutant seedlings grow faster. This suggests that ADAP is involved in the regulation of germination and seedling growth. Both germination and post-germination growth of the knockout mutants were partially insensitive to ABA, which indicates that ADAP is required for a full ABA response. The survival rates for mutants from which water was withheld were low compared with those for wild-type plants. The result shows that ADAP is necessary for the response to stress induced by water deprivation. Together, our data indicate that ADAP is a positive regulator of the ABA response and is also involved in regulating seedling growth. The role of ADAP is similar to that of ARIA, which is also a positive regulator of the ABA response. It appears that ADAP acts through the same ABA response pathway as ARIA.