In vivo FRET FLIM reveals ER-specific increases in the ABA level upon environmental stresses

Plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is essential for regulating plant growth and various stress responses. ABA-mediated signaling depends on local ABA levels rather than the overall cellular ABA concentration. While cellular concentration of ABA can be detected using Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based ABA probes, direct imaging of subcellular ABA levels remains unsolved. Here, we modified the previously reported ABAleon2.1 and generated a new ABA sensor, named ABAleon2.1_Tao3. Via transient expression in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) protoplasts, we targeted ABAleon2.1_Tao3s to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane with the ABA sensing unit facing the cytosol and the ER, respectively, through a nanobody-epitope-mediated protein interaction. Combining FRET with fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, ABAtriggered-specific increases in the fluorescence lifetime of the donor mTurquoise in the ABAleon2.1_Tao3 were detected in both transient assays and stably transformed Arabidopsis plants. In tobacco protoplasts, ER membrane-targeted ABAleon2.1_Tao3s showed a generally higher basal level of ABA in the ER than that in the cytosol and ER-specific alterations in the level of ABA upon environmental cues. In ABAleon2.1_Tao3-transformed Arabidopsis roots, mannitol triggered increases in cytosolic ABA in the division zone and increases in ER ABA in the elongation and maturation zone within 1 h after treatment, both of which were abolished in the bg1-2 mutant, suggesting the requirement for BG1 in osmotic stress-triggered early ABA induction in Arabidopsis roots. These data demonstrate that ABAleon2.1_Tao3s can be used to monitor ABA levels in the cytosol and the ER, providing key information on stress-induced changes in the level of ABA in different subcellular compartments.