The influence of abscisic acid (ABA) on carbon metabolism and the activity of ribulosebisphosphate (RuBP) and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylases in 8-day-old pea seedlings was investigated. It was endeavoured to correlate the changes observed in metabolic processes with the endogenous ABA level. In plants treated with ABA incorporation of labeled carbon into sucrose, glucose, fructose and sugar phosphates was depressed, while <sup>14</sup>C incorporation into starch, ribulose and malic acid was enhanced. The activity of RuBP carboxylase was considerably lowered, whereas that of PEP carboxylase was slightly increased. It is considered that inhibition of photosynthesis due to the action of ABA is caused to a great extent by the obstruction of the C-3 pathway and reduced activity of RuBP carboxylase, whereas (β-carboxylation was not blocked.
Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism in the Palisade Parenchyma and Spongy Parenchyma of Vicia faba L.
