Genotype-specific differences in chilling tolerance of maize in relation to chilling-induced changes in water status and abscisic acid accumulation

Mycorrhizal colonization can alter stomatal behavior of host leaves before or during soil drying, but the mechanism of influence is not always clear. We examined the possibility that mycorrhizal symbiosis might result in either altered stomatal sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) moving from roots to shoots in xylem sap, or altered movement of ABA in xylem as a function of soil water content (θ). Mycorrhizal colonization of Vigna unguiculata did not change the relationship between stomatal conductance (gs) and xylem [ABA] during drying of whole root systems. Stomatal conductance was higher in mycorrhizal than in similarly sized and similarly nourished nonmycorrhizal plants when soil moisture was relatively high, perhaps related to lower xylem [ABA] in mycorrhizal plants at high soil θ. Neither gs nor xylem [ABA] was affected by mycorrhizae at low soil θ. Higher gs in mycorrhizal plants was evidently not related to a mycorrhizal effect on leaf water status, as neither gs/shoot Ψ nor shoot Ψ/soil θ relationships were altered by the symbiosis. Stomatal conductance was much more closely correlated with xylem [ABA] than with soil θ or shoot Ψ. Decreased xylem [ABA] may explain why mycorrhizal colonization sometimes increases gs of unstressed mycorrhizal plants in the absence of mycorrhizae-induced changes in host nutrition. This work was supported by USDA NRICGP grant 91-37100-6723 (R.M.A).

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Before and beyond ABA: upstream sensing and internal signals that determine ABA accumulation and response under abiotic stress

Biochemical Society Transactions ◽

10.1042/bst0330375 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 375-379 ◽

Cited By ~ 119

Author(s):

P.E. Verslues ◽

J.-K. Zhu

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Stress ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Molecular Basis ◽

Water Status ◽

Plant Water Status ◽

Plant Water ◽

Acid Accumulation ◽

Sense And Respond ◽

Induced Changes ◽

Aba Response

Sensing and signalling events that detect abiotic stress-induced changes in plant water status and initiate downstream stress responses such as ABA (abscisic acid) accumulation and osmoregulation remain uncharacterized in plants. Although conclusive results are lacking, recent results from plants, and analogies to signalling in other organisms, suggest possible mechanisms for sensing altered water status and initial transduction of that signal. Internal signals that act downstream of ABA and modulate stress responses to reflect the type and severity of the stress and the metabolic status of the plant are also not well understood. Two specific types of signalling, sugar sensing and reactive oxygen signalling, are likely to be modulators of ABA response under stress. For both upstream sensing and signalling of plant water status as well as downstream modulation of ABA response, present results suggest several genetic strategies with high potential to increase our understanding of the molecular basis by which plants sense and respond to altered water status.

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