The research focused on the second of 2 hypotheses that were proposed for testing that transpiration rate determines the extent to which suc accumulates in the GC wall providing a mechanism for regulating stomatal aperture size. The hypothesis received strong support because the suc content of the GC apoplast fell 7-fold on lowering of the WD. Progress in other related areas (SUC uptake mechanism, physiological effect of external SUC, and especially the kinetics of ABA accumulation in the guard-cell wall) has also been made.