Showing papers on "Abscisic acid published in 1988"

Metabolism and physiology of abscisic acid

Abstract: INTRODUCTION 440 TECHNIQUES 440 Quantification of ABA . ...... . . ...... . 440 Separation of Sand R-Abscisic Acid 441 Stable Isotopes and Mass Spectrometry 442 Extraction and Quantification of Xanthoxin 442 METABOLISM 443 Biosynthesis in Fungi 443 Biosynthesis in Higher Plants 444 Catabolism . . . . . . . . . .. . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ..... . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ..... . . . . . . . 453 Compartmentation 454 EFFECTS OF ABSCISIC ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456 Physiological Responses 456 Biochemical Responses..... . ...... . 461 CONCLUDING REMARKS 463

Abscisic acid and water-stress induce the expression of a novel rice gene.

Abstract: We have identified a novel rice gene, called RAB 21, which is induced when plants are subject to water-stress. This gene encodes a basic, glycine-rich protein (mol. wt 16,529) which has a duplicated domain structure. Immunoblots probed with antibodies raised against beta-galactosidase/RAB 21 fusion protein detect RAB 21 protein only in cytosolic cell fractions. RAB 21 mRNA and protein accumulate in rice embryos, leaves, roots and callus-derived suspension cells upon treatment with NaCl (200 mM) and/or the plant hormone abscisic acid (10 microM ABA). The effects of NaCl and ABA are not cumulative, suggesting that these two inducers share a common response pathway. Induction of RAB 21 mRNA accumulation by ABA is rapid (less than 15 min in suspension cells) and does not require protein synthesis, indicating that preformed nuclear and/or cytosolic factors mediate the response to this hormone. We have characterized the RAB 21 gene by determining the complete nucleotide sequence of a nearly full-length cDNA and corresponding genomic copy, and by mapping the start site of its major transcript. The proximal promoter region contains various GC-rich repeats.

A gene induced by the plant hormone abscisic acid in response to water stress encodes a glycine-rich protein

Abstract: Plant hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA) appear to modulate the responses of plants under adverse conditions1,2 ABA has a poorly-understood role in embryogenesis, accumulating in the stages before dessication3,4, and altering the rate of transcription of a specific set of genes5,6. The functions of the proteins encoded by these genes, however, are unknown, and their messenger RNAs decrease again during early germination7–9. No correlation has been established between ABA levels and the induction of particular genes in non-embryonic organs. The level of ABA increases substantially in leaf tissues subjected to water stress10 and thus it has been proposed that ABA mediates plant–water relations1,10. Here we describe the isolation of complementary DNA and genomic clones of a gene that is ABA-inducible in the maize embryo, and whose messenger RNA accumulates in epidermial cells, which is also induced by water stress and wounding in leaves. The deduced protein is rich in glycine. Identification of this gene will contribute to our understanding of the role of ABA.

Characterisation of Non-Uniform Photosynthesis Induced by Abscisic Acid in Leaves Having Different Mesophyll Anatomies

Abstract: The effects of abscisic acid (ABA) on photosynthesis in leaves of Helianthusannuus L. were compared with those in leaves of Viciafaba L. After the ABA treatment, the response of photo­ synthetic CO2 assimilation rate, A, to calculated intercellular partial pressure of CO2 , Pi' (A(Pi) relationship) was markedly depressed in H. annuus. A less marked depression was also observed in Vifaba. However, when the abaxial epidermes were removed from these leaves, neither the maximum rate nor the CO 2 response of photosynthetic oxygen evolution was affected by the ap­ plication of ABA. Starch-iodine tests revealed that photosynthesis was not uniform over the leaves of H. an­ nuus treated with ABA. The starch content was diffferent in each bundle sheath extension com­ partment (the smallest subdivision of mesophyll by veins with bundle sheath extensions, hav­ ing an area of ca. 0.25 mrrr' and ca. 50 stomata). In some compartments, no starch was detected. The distribution of open stomata, examined using the silicone' rubber impression tech­ niques, was similar to the pattern of starch accumulation. In Vifaba leaves, which lack bundle sheath extensions, distribution of starch was more homogeneous. These results indicate that the apparent non-stomatal inhibition of photosynthesis by ABA deduced from the depression of A(Pi) relationship is an artifact which can be attributed to the non-uniform distribution of transpiration and photosynthesis over the leaf. Intercellular gaseous environment in the ABA-treated leaves is discussed in relation to mesophyll anatomy.

Regulation of a wheat promoter by abscisic acid in rice protoplasts

Abstract: Although it is well documented that plant tissue responds to phytohormones by expressing new genes1,2, the signal/transduction pathway from hormone to gene is not well understood. DNA sequences regulating plant tissue responses to other external signals such as light2, heat3 and anaerobic stress4 have been characterized. Regulatory sequences involved in hormonal activation of genes have not been described from any plant, however. We report here the normal regulation of a promoter from wheat, inducible by the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA), in a transient expression assay using rice protoplasts: an isolated plant promoter fragment is thus responding specifically to hormone treatment, and provides direct evidence for phytohormone acting to regulate the initiation of gene transcription. The response is rapid (within 60 min), which should allow identification of intermediates between the ABA signal and its regulation of gene expression.

Non‐uniform stomatal closure induced by water stress causes putative non‐stomatal inhibition of photosynthesis

Abstract: summary The partial pressure of intercellular CO2 derived from gas exchange data for water-stressed grapevine (Vitis vinijera L.), oleander (Nerium oleander L.) and red-flowering gum (Eucalyptus ficifolia F. Muell.) does not indicate the actual average intercellular CO2 of the leaf. This can be determined from chlorophyll fluorescence signals and modelled from conventional gas exchange information. Water stress increases endogenous levels of abscisic acid and the leaves respond in a similar manner to that observed when exogenous abscisic acid is applied. Autoradiograms show that water stress results in non-uniform gas exchange over small areas of the leaf. Non-uniform stomatal closure can account for the apparent non-stomatal inhibition of photosynthesis in plants experiencing water stress.

Stomatal closure fully accounts for the inhibition of photosynthesis by abscisic acid

Abstract: SUMMARY The partial pressure of intercellular CO2 calculated from gas exchange data for abscisic acid-treated leaves of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) does not indicate the average intercellular CO2 of the leaf. The latter can be determined from chlorophyll fluorescence quenching information and accurately modelled from gas exchange data. Stomatal closure can fully account for previously assumed non-stomatal inhibition of photosynthesis. Autoradiograms show that abscisic acid induces non-uniform gas exchange over small areas of the leaf.

Abscisic Acid is not the only stomatal inhibitor in the transpiration stream of wheat plants.

Abstract: Xylem sap was collected from the transpiration stream of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants and assayed for the presence of an inhibitor of transpiration using leaves detached from well-watered plants. Transpiration of detached leaves was reduced by nearly 60% by sap collected from plants in drying soil, and to a lesser extent (about 25%) by sap from plants in well-watered soil. As the soil dried the abscisic acid (ABA) concentration in the sap increased by about 50 times to 5 × 10−8 molar. However, the ABA in the sap did not cause its inhibitory activity. Synthetic ABA of one hundred times this concentration was needed to reduce transpiration rates of detached leaves to the same extent. Furthermore, inhibitory activity of the sap was retained after its passage through an immunoaffinity column to remove ABA. Xylem sap was also collected by applying pressure to the roots of plants whose leaf water status was kept high as the soil dried. Sap collected from these plants reduced transpiration to a lesser extent than sap from nonpressurised plants. This suggests that the inhibitory activity was triggered partly by leaf water deficit and partly by root water deficit.

Abscisic Acid Movement into the Apoplastic solution of Water-Stressed Cotton Leaves: Role of Apoplastic pH

Abstract: Leaves of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were subjected to overpressures in a pressure chamber, and the exuded sap was collected and analyzed. The exudate contained low concentrations of solutes that were abundant in total leaf extracts, and photosynthetic rates and stomatal conductance were completely unaffected by a cycle of pressurization and rehydration. These criteria and others indicate that the experimental techniques inflicted no damage upon the leaf cells. The pH and abscisic acid (ABA) content of the apoplastic fluid both increased greatly with pressure-induced dehydration. Although ABA concentrations did not reach a steady state, the peak levels were above 1 micromolar, an order of magnitude greater than bulk ABA concentrations of the leaf blades. Treatment of leaves with fusicoccin decreased the K+ concentration, greatly reduced the pH rise, and completely eliminated the increase in ABA in the apoplast upon dehydration. When water-stressed leaves were pressurized, the pH of the exuded sap was increased by 0.2 units per 1 megapascal decrease in initial leaf water potential. Buffer capacity of the sap was least in the pH range of interest (6.5-7.5), allowing extremely small changes in H+ fluxes to create large changes in apoplastic pH. The data indicate that dehydration causes large changes in apoplastic pH, perhaps by effects on ATPases; the altered pH then enhances the release of ABA from mesophyll cells into the apoplastic fluid.

Growth response of barley and tomato to nitrogen stress and its control by abscisic acid, water relations and photosynthesis.

Abstract: Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were grown hydroponically and examined 2, 5, and 10 d after being deprived of nitrogen (N) supply. Leaf elongation rate declined in both species in response to N stress before there was any reduction in rate of dryweight accumulation. Changes in water transport to the shoot could not explain reduced leaf elongation in tomato because leaf water content and water potential were unaffected by N stress at the time leaf elongation began to decline. Tomato maintained its shoot water status in N-stressed plants, despite reduced water absorption per gram root, because the decline in root hydraulic conductance with N stress was matched by a decline in stomatal conductance. In barley the decline in leaf elongation coincided with a small (8%) decline in water content per unit area of young leaves; this decline occurred because root hydraulic conductance was reduced more strongly by N stress than was stomatal conductance. Nitrogen stress caused a rapid decline in tissue NO 3 - pools and in NO 3 - flux to the xylem, particularly in tomato which had smaller tissue NO 3 - reserves. Even in barley, tissue NO 3 - reserves were too small and were mobilized too slowly (60% in 2 d) to support maximal growth for more than a few hours. Organic N mobilized from old leaves provided an additional N source to support continued growth of N-stressed plants. Abscisic acid (ABA) levels increased in leaves of both species within 2 d in response to N stress. Addition of ABA to roots caused an increase in volume of xylem exudate but had no effect upon NO 3 - flux to the xylem. After leaf-elongation rate had been reduced by N stress, photosynthesis declined in both barley and tomato. This decline was associated with increased leaf ABA content, reduced stomatal conductance and a decrease in organic N content. We suggest that N stress reduces growth by several mechanisms operating on different time scales: (1) increased leaf ABA content causing reduced cell-wall extensibility and leaf elongation and (2) a more gradual decline in photosynthesis caused by ABA-induced stomatal closure and by a decrease in leaf organic N.

Drought- and ABA-Induced Changes in Polypeptide and mRNA Accumulation in Tomato Leaves

Abstract: Drought stress triggers abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis resulting in ABA accumulation. The ABA-deficient tomato mutant, flacca (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Ailsa Craig), does not synthesize ABA in response to drought stress. This mutant has been used to distinguish polypeptides and in vitro translation products that are synthesized during drought stress in response to elevated ABA levels from those that are induced directly by altered water relations. A set of polypeptides and in vitro translation products was synthesized during drought stress in the wild type. These polypeptides and in vitro translation products were synthesized to a lesser extent in the drought-stressed ABA-deficient mutant. Treatment of flacca with ABA resulted in the synthesis of the drought-stress-induced polypeptides and in vitro translation products. These results support the hypothesis that many of the polypeptides that are synthesized during drought are regulated by alterations in ABA concentration. Similarly, the mRNA population was altered by ABA during drought stress.

Improved somatic embryogenesis in wheat by partial simulation of the in-ovulo oxygen, growth-regulator and desiccation environments.

Abstract: The effects of O2, growth-regulators and desiccation on callus growth and somatic embryo (embryoid) development were investigated in cultures of immature embryos of two lines of Triticum aestivum L. Callus and embryoid formation were induced on media that contained N(6)-furfurylamin-opurine (kinetin) and either 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid or 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid, either with or without abscisic acid (ABA). Cultures containing differentiated embryoids were then exposed to high concentrations of both ABA and indole-3-acetic acid, after which samples were desiccated to approx. 10% tissue moisture. Incubating cultures in 3.2 mmol·l(-1) O2 (approx. 9%, low-O2) increased embryoid formation sixfold in one wheat line and nearly threefold in another. In the former line low-O2 caused the formation of mostly embryogenic callus. Low-O2 also decreased precocious germination of immature embryos, decreased callus growth, and improved development and viability of the resultant embryoids. Including 1.9 μmol·l(-1) ABA in the callus-induction medium reduced germination of immature embryos and reduced the incidence of embryoids with visible abnormalities. Despite the improved morphology, significantly fewer of the embryoids produced on ABA-containing medium germinated. Desiccation significantly enhanced germination of these embryoids as well as those produced on ABA-free medium.

Abscisic Acid-Regulated Gene Expression in Relation to Freezing Tolerance in Alfalfa

Abstract: A comparison of abscisic acid (ABA)-induced and cold-acclimation-induced freezing tolerance in two alfalfa cultivars (Medicago falcata cv Anik and Medicago sativa v Trek) indicates that ABA alone can increase freezing tolerance to some extent, but for the development of maximum tolerance, cold acclimation is essential. Analysis of in vivo-labeled proteins of ABA-treated seedlings reveals that ABA causes several changes in the pattern of protein synthesis. While some of these changes appear to be similar to those induced by cold acclimation, others seem to be specific to ABA treatment. From a cDNA library constructed against poly(A(+)) RNA of a freezing-tolerant alfalfa cultivar, Anik, a cDNA clone, pSM1409, has been isolated. Expression of the gene corresponding to this clone, as determined by northern hybridization, is regulated most likely at the transcriptional level by cold acclimation and exogenously supplied ABA. However, the increase in the transcript level is much greater in the freezing-tolerant cultivar Anik than in the relatively freezing-sensitive cultivar, Trek. The role of ABA in the acquisition of freezing tolerance is discussed.

Enhancement of ABA responsiveness in wheat embryos by high temperature

Abstract: . Mature wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain often possesses high-temperature dormancy which restricts the grain from germinating at warm temperatures (25–30°C). Isolated embryos from such grain exhibited little high-temperature dormancy when germinated in water. Dormancy was restored by the application of abscisic acid (ABA) to the embryos. The ability of ABA to block germination in isolated embryos was enhanced significantly by elevating the germination temperature. ABA was 100 times more effective in reducing embryonic germination at 30°C than at 15°C. These temperature effects on embryonic response to ABA are a useful system for studying the mechanism of ABA action in seed dormancy.

Water Deficit-Induced Changes in Abscisic Acid, Growth, Polysomes, and Translatable RNA in Soybean Hypocotyls

Abstract: Soybean seedlings (Glycine max L.) were germinated and dark-grown in water-saturated vermiculite (water potential = -0.01 megapascal) for 48 hours, then transferred either to water-saturated vermiculite or to low water potential vermiculite (water potential = -0.30 megapascal). A decrease in growth rate was detectable within 0.8 hour post-transfer to low water potential vermiculite. A fourfold increase in the abscisic acid content of the elongating region was observed within 0.5 hour. At 24 hours post-transfer, hypocotyl elongation was severely arrested and abscisic acid reached its highest measured level: 3.7 nanograms per milligram dry weight (74-fold increase). A comparison of the polyA(+) RNA populations isolated at 24 hours post-transfer from the elongating region of water-saturated and low water potential vermiculite-grown seedlings was made by two-dimensional (isoelectric focusing-sodium dodecyl sulfate) polyacrylamide gel analysis of in vitro translation products. It revealed both increases and decreases in the relative amounts of a number of translation products. Rewatering seedlings grown in low water potential vermiculite at 24 hours post-transfer led to a total recovery in growth rate within 0.5 hour, while abscisic acid in the elongating hypocotyl region required 1 to 2 hours to return to uninduced levels. Application of 1.0 millimolar (+/-) abscisic acid to well-watered seedlings resulted in a 48% reduction in hypocotyl growth rate during the first 2 hours after treatment. Plants treated with abscisic acid for 24 hours had a lower polysome content than control plants. However, hypocotyl growth inhibition in abscisic acid-treated seedlings preceded the decline in polysome content.

Water-stress-induced changes in the abscisic acid content of guard cells and other cells of Vicia faba L. leaves as determined by enzyme-amplified immunoassay

Abstract: A highly sensitive, solid-phase, enzyme-amplified immunoassay for the plant growth regulator (+)-abscisic acid (ABA) was developed. The assay sensitivity (0.2-10 fmol) was sufficient for analyzing free ABA in homogeneous tissue samples dissected from Vicia faba L. leaves. Eight hours after detached leaves had been desiccated to 10% loss of fresh weight, the bulk leaf ABA content increased from ≤0.2 to 6.2 ng·(mg dry weight)-1. Epidermal tissue, spongy parenchyma cells, and palisade parenchyma cells from this water-stressed leaf had the following ABA contents, respectively: 4.8, 9.4, and 9.0 ng·(mg dry weight)-1. Guard cells, which respond to exogenous ABA by losing solutes and volume, were also assayed. When they were dissected from control (fully hydrated) leaves, their ABA content was ≈0.7 fg·(cell pair)-1 [[unk]0.2 ng·(mg dry weight)-1]. In contrast, the ABA content of guard cells of water-stressed leaves was ≈17.7 fg·(cell pair)-1. These results indicate that ABA accumulation in a highly stressed V. faba leaflet is generalized; guard cells contain only 0.15% of bulk leaf ABA. The time course for loss of ABA from guard cells of a floating epidermal peel was studied. There was little loss within 30 min, but after 4 hr, the ABA content was only 17% of the original value. These results indicate that the bulk of guard cell ABA is not readily diffusible (i.e., probably not apoplastic). The results also indicate that common laboratory procedures results in lowered guard cell ABA content.

Xanthoxin levels and metabolism in the wild-type and wilty mutants of tomato.

Abstract: Using 13C-labelled internal standards and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/multiple-ion monitoring the levels of xanthoxin (Xan) and 2-trans-xanthoxin (t-Xan) have been determined in stressed and non-stressed leaves of wildtype tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill cv. Ailsa Craig), and the wilty mutants, notabilis (not), flacca (flc) and sitiens (sit). Levels of Xan were very low in all tissues. Ratios of t-Xan: Xan ranged from 10:1 to <500:1. In the wild-type and flc, t-Xan levels increased following stress. The results from feeding experiments using [13C]Xan and t-Xan demonstrated that whilst wild-type and not plants readily converted Xan into abscisic acid (ABA), flc and sit plants converted only a small amount of applied Xan into ABA. In all plants t-Xan was not converted into ABA. These results indicate that the flc and sit mutants are impaired in ABA biosynthesis because they are unable to convert Xan into ABA, whereas the not mutant is blocked at a metabolic step prior to Xan. Another possible ABA precursor, ABA-1′,4′-trans-diol (ABA-t-diol) was found to occur in wild-type and mutant tissue. All four tissues could convert [2H]ABA-t-diol to ABA. Incubation of stressed leaves in the presence of 18O2 provided evidence consistent with Xan and ABA originating via oxidative cleavage of a xanthophyll such as violaxanthin.

The effects of methyl jasmonate on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seed germination and seedling development

Abstract: Some effects of methyl jasmonate (Me-Ja) on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seed germination and seedling development are described and compared with those of ABA. Both growth regulators have very similar action. They inhibit germination, but high concentrations of O2 in the atmosphere suppress this inhibitory action. Depending on the concentration, Me-Ja inhibits root and hypcotyl growth, however the root is more sensitive to Me-Ja than to ABA. Me-Ja also strongly reduces oxygen uptake during germination and inhibits chlorophyll biosynthesis in isolated cotyledons.

Isolation and characterization of a barley mutant with abscisic-acid-insensitive stomata.

Abstract: A barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mutant ("cool") with leaf transpiration unaffected by the application of 1 mM abscisic acid (ABA) was isolated from the population of M2 seedlings using thermography (electronic visualization, and quantitation of the temperature profiles on the surface of the leaves). Stomata of the mutant plants were insensitive to exogenously applied ABA, darkness, and such desiccation treatments as leaf excision and drought stress. The evaporative cooling of the leaves of the "cool" barley was always higher than that of the wild-type barley, even without ABA application, indicating that the diffusive resistance of the mutant leaves to water loss was always lower. Guard-cell morphology and stomatal density as well as ABA level and metabolism were seemingly unaltered in the mutant plants. In addition, gibberellin-induced α-amylase secretion and precocious embryo germination in the mutant barley was inhibited by ABA to the same extent as in the wild-type barley.

Hormonal regulation of gene expression in the "slender" mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

Abstract: The “slender” mutant of barley resembles a normal barley plant treated with high doses of gibberellic acid (GA3). Expression of GA3-regulated and abscisic acid (ABA)-regulated mRNAs was studied in the endosperm and roots of mutant and wild-type (WT) plants.

Process to induce desiccation tolerance in somatic embryos

Abstract: A process for inducing desiccation tolerance in an in vitro formed plant embryo to enable production of viable artificial seeds is disclosed. The process comprises culturing in vitro plant embryos, stimulating the embryos to proceed through globular and a heart shaped stage into an elongate-torpedo shaped stage and early cotyledon stage, inducing the embryos as early as the torpedo-shaped stage with a source of abscisic acid at an effective concentration of abscisic acid and for a sufficient period of time to cause expression of desiccation tolerance which includes change in cellular metabolism, electron transport processes and oxidation-reduction reactions in the embryos and drying the induced embryos to provide stable viable embryos.

Abscisic acid and water transport in sunflowers

Abstract: The role of abscisic acid (ABA) in the transport of water and ions from the root to the shoot of sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus) was investigated by application of ABA either to the root medium or to the apical bud. The exudation at the hypocotyl stump of decapitated seedlings was measured with and without hydrostatic pressure (0–0.3 MPa) applied to the root. All ABA concentrations tested (10-10–10-4 mol·l-1) promoted exudation. Maximal amounts of exudate (200% of control) were obtained with ABA at 10-6·mol·l-1 and an externally applied pressure of 0.1 MPa. The effect was rapid and long-lasting, and involved promotion of ion release to the xylem (during the first hours) as well as an increase in hydraulic conductivity. Abscisic acid applied to the apical bud had effects similar to those of the rootapplied hormone. Increased rates of exudation were also obtained after osmotic stress was applied to the root; this treatment increased the endogenous level of ABA in the root as well as in the shoot. Water potentials of the hypocotyls of intact plants increased when the roots were treated with ABA at 5°C, whereas stomatal resistances were lowered. The results are consistent with the view that ABA controls the water status of the plant not only by regulating stomatal transpiration, but also by regulating the hydraulic conductivity of the root.

Enzymic Synthesis of Indole-3-Acetyl-1-O-β-d-Glucose : II. Metabolic Characteristics of the Enzyme

Abstract: The synthesis of indole-3-acetyl-1-O-beta-D-glucose from indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and uridine diphosphoglucose (UDPG) has been shown to be a reversible reaction with the equilibrium away from ester formation and toward formation of IAA The enzyme occurs primarily in the liquid endosperm of the corn kernel but some activity occurs in the embryo It is relatively specific showing no glucose ester formation with oxindole-3-acetic acid or 7-hydroxy-oxindole-3-acetic acid, and low activity with phenylpropene acids, such as rho-coumaric acid The enzyme is also specific for the nucleotide sugar showing no activity with UDPGalactose or UDPXylose The enzyme is inhibited by inorganic pyrophosphate, by phosphate esters and by phospholipids, particularly phosphatidyl ethanolamine The enzyme is inhibited by zeatin, by 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid, by IAA-myo-inositol and IAA-glucan, but not by zeatin riboside, and only weakly by gibberellic acid, abscisic acid and kinetin The reaction is slightly stimulated by both calcium and calmodulin and, in some cases, by thiol compounds The role of this enzyme in the homeostatic control of indole-3-acetic acid levels in Zea mays is discussed

Correlation of stomatal conductance with photosynthetic capacity of cotton only in a CO2-enriched atmosphere: mediation by abscisic acid?

Abstract: Some evidence indicates that photosynthetic rate (A) and stomatal conductance (g) of leaves are correlated across diverse environments. The correlation between A and g has led to the postulation of a “messenger” from the mesophyll that directs stomatal behavior. Because A is a function of intercellular CO2 concentration (ci), which is in turn a function of g, such a correlation may be partially mediated by ci if g is to some degree an independent variable. Among individual sunlit leaves in a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) canopy in the field, A was significantly correlated with g (r2 = 0.41, n = 63). The relative photosynthetic capacity of each leaf was calculated as a measure of mesophyll properties independent of ci. This approach revealed that, in the absence of ci effects, mesophyll photosynthetic capacity was unrelated to g (r2 = 0.06). When plants were grown in an atmosphere enriched to about 650 microliters per liter of CO2, however, photosynthetic capacity remained strongly correlated with g even though the procedure discounted any effect of variable ci. This “residual” correlation implies the existence of a messenger in CO2-enriched plants. Enriched CO2 also greatly increased stomatal response to abscisic acid (ABA) injected into intact leaves. The data provide no evidence for a messenger to coordinate g with A at ambient levels of CO2. In a CO2-enriched atmosphere, though, ABA may function as such a messenger because the sensitivity of the system to ABA is enhanced.