Phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) inhibits the development of young seedlings including (1) radicle tip emergence and (2) cotyledon expansion. "ABI5" is requiered for (1). But more factors are likely involved. Here I describe a novel recessive mutation, "growth insensitive to ABA 3 (gia3)". Genetic analyses between "gia3" and "abi5" revealed that ABA inhibition was regulated in two steps. The first is the inhibition of (1), where "ABI5" plays a major role; the second is the inhibition of (2), where "GIA3" plays a major role. In the search for "GIA3" pathway targets using microarrays, I found that the expression of a mid-embryogenesis gene "(MEE26)" was induced in an ABA- and "GIA3"- dependent manner. These results uncovered a novel "GIA3" pathway, one phenotypically and molecularly independent from ABI5. By inducing a mid-embryogenesis gene, the "GIA3" pathway is perhaps conferring additional embryonic identities to the seedlings under stress.