Fig. 3. MPK3/6-mediated VLN3 phosphorylation contributes to stomatal defense.

The flg22-induced stomatal closure (a) and bacterial growth (b) was determined on the vln3 T2 transgenic lines complemented with WT and mutant forms of VLN3. c, d Bacterial growth was determined in the MPK6SR overexpressing WT and mutant forms of VLN3. Data were obtained from two independent transgenic lines (L1 and L2). See also Supplementary Fig. 4a for bacterial growth data from the additional vln3 complementary lines. Stomatal apertures were quantified after epidermal peels were treated with flg22 (10 µM) for 1 hr. The bacterial population in the leaf was determined 2 days after plants were spray-inoculated with DC3000. Plants in (c, d) were pretreated with mock or NAPP1 (10 µM) for 3 h prior to bacterial inoculation. Value are means ± SD. n = 6 in [b, d], n = 3 in [c] for bacterial growth measurements. n = 110 stomata from each treatment and genotype were analyzed for stomatal aperture; Different letters indicate significant differences at P < 0.05, as determined by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test in (b, c, d) or with Šídák’s multiple comparisons test in (a). The exact p values are provided in the Source Data file.