scholarly journals Abscisic Acid Application Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Bedding Plants

HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Waterland ◽  
Craig A. Campbell ◽  
John J. Finer ◽  
Michelle L. Jones

Drought stress is a major cause of postproduction decline in bedding plants. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates drought stress responses by mediating stomatal closure, thereby reducing transpirational water loss. Exogenous ABA applications delay wilting and allow plants to survive short periods of severe drought. The effectiveness of the ABA biochemical, s-ABA (ConTego™; Valent BioSciences Corp., Libertyville, IL), at delaying wilting and extending shelf life during drought stress was evaluated in six bedding plant species. Spray and drench applications of 0 or 500 mg·L−1 s-ABA were applied to Impatiens walleriana (impatiens), Pelargonium ×hortorum (seed geranium), Petunia ×hybrida (petunia), Tagetes patula (marigold), Salvia splendens (salvia), and Viola ×wittrockiana (pansy). Water was subsequently withheld and wilting symptoms were compared between treated and control plants. s-ABA applications delayed wilting in all crops by 1.7 to 4.3 days. Leaf chlorosis was observed after s-ABA application in drought-stressed seed geraniums, marigolds, and pansies. In seed geraniums and marigolds, the drought stress itself resulted in leaf chlorosis that was equivalent to or more severe than the s-ABA application alone. In pansies, s-ABA applications induced leaf chlorosis that was more severe than the drought treatment. Overall, s-ABA was consistently effective at reducing water loss and extending shelf life for all species treated. Applications of s-ABA to bedding plants before shipping and retailing would allow plants to maintain marketability even under severe drought stress conditions.

HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Waterland ◽  
John J. Finer ◽  
Michelle L. Jones

Drought stress during the shipping and retailing of floriculture crops can reduce postproduction shelf life and marketability. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) mediates drought stress responses by closing stomata and reducing water loss. Applications of exogenous s-ABA effectively reduce water loss and allow a variety of species to survive temporary periods of drought stress. Unfortunately, s-ABA application can also lead to leaf chlorosis, which reduces the overall quality of economically important bedding plant species, including Viola ×wittrockiana (pansy). The goal of this research was to determine how to prevent s-ABA-induced leaf chlorosis in pansy and a closely related species, Viola cornuta (viola). All concentrations of both spray (250 or 500 mg·L−1) and drench (125 or 250 mg·L−1) s-ABA applications induced leaf yellowing. Young plants at the plug stage and 11-cm finished plants with one to two open flowers were further evaluated to determine if the developmental stage of the plants influenced s-ABA effectiveness or the development of negative side effects. Both plugs and finished pansies and violas developed leaf chlorosis after s-ABA applications, but symptoms were generally more severe in finished plants. The individual application of benzyladenine (BA), gibberellic acid (GA4+7), or the ethylene perception inhibitor, 1-methylcyclopropene, before s-ABA application had no effect on the development of s-ABA-induced leaf chlorosis. However, applications of 5 or 10 mg·L−1 BA and GA4+7 as a mixture (BA + GA4+7) before a drench or spray application of s-ABA prevented leaf chlorosis. The application of s-ABA and BA + GA4+7 would allow floriculture crops to tolerate temporary periods of drought stress without any loss of postproduction quality.


2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 896-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Waterland ◽  
John J. Finer ◽  
Michelle L. Jones

Drought stress during shipping and retailing reduces the postproduction quality and marketability of potted plants. Plants respond to drought stress by closing their stomata and reducing transpirational water loss. This stress response is mediated by the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Exogenous applications of s-abscisic acid (s-ABA), the biologically active form of the hormone, can enhance drought tolerance and extend shelf life in a variety of bedding plants. However, little is known about the effectiveness of s-ABA at enhancing drought tolerance in perennial crops like chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum ×morifolium). ‘Festive Ursula’ chrysanthemum plants were drenched (0, 125, 250, or 500 mg·L−1) or sprayed (0, 500, or 1000 mg·L−1) with s-ABA. All applications containing s-ABA effectively delayed wilting by reducing stomatal conductance (gS). Shelf life was extended from 1.2 to 4.0 days depending on the concentration of s-ABA. Spray applications of 500 mg·L−1 s-ABA to six additional chrysanthemum cultivars increased shelf life from 1.6 to 3.8 days following drought stress. s-ABA treatment also allowed severely drought-stressed chrysanthemums to recover and remain marketable after rewatering. Growers can treat chrysanthemums with s-ABA to reduce water use during shipping and to delay wilting if plants are not adequately watered during retailing.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Md. Mahadi Hasan ◽  
Milan Skalicky ◽  
Mohammad Shah Jahan ◽  
Md. Nazmul Hossain ◽  
Zunaira Anwar ◽  
...  

In recent years, research on spermine (Spm) has turned up a lot of new information about this essential polyamine, especially as it is able to counteract damage from abiotic stresses. Spm has been shown to protect plants from a variety of environmental insults, but whether it can prevent the adverse effects of drought has not yet been reported. Drought stress increases endogenous Spm in plants and exogenous application of Spm improves the plants’ ability to tolerate drought stress. Spm’s role in enhancing antioxidant defense mechanisms, glyoxalase systems, methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification, and creating tolerance for drought-induced oxidative stress is well documented in plants. However, the influences of enzyme activity and osmoregulation on Spm biosynthesis and metabolism are variable. Spm interacts with other molecules like nitric oxide (NO) and phytohormones such as abscisic acid, salicylic acid, brassinosteroids, and ethylene, to coordinate the reactions necessary for developing drought tolerance. This review focuses on the role of Spm in plants under severe drought stress. We have proposed models to explain how Spm interacts with existing defense mechanisms in plants to improve drought tolerance.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc W. van Iersel ◽  
Kate Seader ◽  
Sue Dove

Abstract A lack of adequate watering reduces the shelf life of many ornamental plants during retail. Our goals were to determine whether sprays or drenches with abscisic acid (ABA) can reduce transpiration and extend the shelf life of hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). During the first 5 days after treatment, ABA drenches of 125 to 1000 ppm reduced stomatal conductance (gs) by 50 to 80% as compared to water. ABA-induced stomatal closure reduced plant water uptake from the substrate; control plants took up half of the plant-available water during the first 7 days after treatment, while it took 14 days for plants drenched with 1000 ppm to take up half of the available water. Control plants wilted after 12 days and time to wilting of drenched plants increased with increasing ABA concentrations, up to 23 days in the 1000 ppm treatment. Spray treatments had little effect on gs and no detectable effect on water uptake or time to wilting. Some yellowing of older leaves was seen with ABA drenches of 500 or 1000 ppm. Despite this side effect, ABA drenches have potential to extend the shelf life of hydrangeas in retail environments.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 2749-2766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Miao ◽  
Dong Lv ◽  
Pengcheng Wang ◽  
Xue-Chen Wang ◽  
Jia Chen ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang T. T. Vu ◽  
A. Kilian ◽  
A. T. James ◽  
L. M. Bielig ◽  
R. J. Lawn

This study applied newly developed Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) and soybean and mungbean DArT libraries for quantitative trait locus (QTL) linkage analysis in recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from three soybean crosses that had previously been assessed for physiological response to severe drought stress. The phenotypic assessments had identified statistically significant genetic variation among and within the RIL populations and their parents for three drought-related responses: epidermal conductance (ge) and relative water content (RWC) during stress, and plant recovery after stress. The new linkage maps containing only DArT markers for the three populations individually contained 196–409 markers and 15–22 linkage groups (LGs), with an aggregate length ranging from 409.4 to 516.7 cM. An integrated map constructed by using the marker data from all three RIL populations comprised 759 DArT markers, 27 LGs and an expanded length of 762.2 cM. Two populations with the landrace accession G2120 as a parent, CPI 26671 × G2120 (CG) and Valder × G2120 (VG), respectively contained 106 and 34 QTLs. In each of these populations, 10 LGs harboured QTLs associated with RWC, ge and recovery ability, of which six similar LGs were associated with drought tolerance. A BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) search for sequences of 19 selected DArT markers linked to QTLs conditioning the drought-response traits indicated that 18 DArT markers were unique and aligned to 12 soybean chromosomes. Comparison of these sequenced DArT markers with other markers associated with drought-related QTLs in previously reported studies using other marker types confirmed that five of them overlapped, whereas the remaining 13 were new. Except for chromosome 15, the chromosomes with which the DArT QTLs in the CG and VG populations were associated were those that had been shown to harbour drought-related QTLs in previous studies. A BLASTx protein database search identified soPt-856602 as being associated with the gene for a probable glycosyltransferase At5g03795-like isoform X1 on chromosome 6. Although the several QTLs identified in the study were all of relatively minor effect, it was concluded that, because the DArT technology involves large numbers of markers and enables many lines to be genotyped simultaneously, it should help the process of manipulating multiple QTLs and so enhance their likely cumulative effect.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Liang ◽  
Kunhua Wei ◽  
Fan Wei ◽  
Shuangshuang Qin ◽  
Chuanhua Deng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sophora tonkinensis Gagnep is a traditional Chinese medical plant that is mainly cultivated in southern China. Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that negatively impacts S. tonkinensis growth. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the responses to drought stress in S. tonkinensis at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels are not well understood. Results To identify genes and miRNAs involved in drought stress responses in S. tonkinensis, both mRNA and small RNA sequencing was performed in root samples under control, mild drought, and severe drought conditions. mRNA sequencing revealed 66,476 unigenes, and the differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were associated with several key pathways, including phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, sugar metabolism, and quinolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis pathways. A total of 10 and 30 transcription factors (TFs) were identified among the DEGs under mild and severe drought stress, respectively. Moreover, small RNA sequencing revealed a total of 368 miRNAs, including 255 known miRNAs and 113 novel miRNAs. The differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes were involved in the regulation of plant hormone signal transduction, the spliceosome, and ribosomes. Analysis of the regulatory network involved in the response to drought stress revealed 37 differentially expressed miRNA-mRNA pairs. Conclusion This is the first study to simultaneously profile the expression patterns of mRNAs and miRNAs on a genome-wide scale to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the drought stress responses of S. tonkinensis. Our results suggest that S. tonkinensis implements diverse mechanisms to modulate its responses to drought stress.


2007 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle DaCosta ◽  
Bingru Huang

Abscisic acid (ABA) and cytokinins are two groups of plant hormones that play important roles in regulating plant responses to decreases in soil water availability. The primary objective for this study was to determine whether species variability in drought survival and recovery for colonial bentgrass (Agrostis capillaris L.), creeping bentgrass (A. stolonifera L.), and velvet bentgrass (A. canina L.) were related to changes in ABA and cytokinin content. Plants of ‘Tiger II’ colonial bentgrass, ‘L-93’ creeping bentgrass, and ‘Greenwich’ velvet bentgrass were subjected to two soil moisture treatments: 1) well-watered controls, irrigated three times per week; and 2) drought, irrigation completely withheld for 16 days. For recovery, previously drought-stressed plants were rewatered and irrigated three times per week to evaluate the recovery potential for each species. Drought stress resulted in significant declines in turf quality (TQ), shoot extension rates, canopy net photosynthetic rate (Pn), daily evapotranspiration rate (ET), and cytokinin content, and significant increases in ABA content for all three bentgrass species. Velvet bentgrass exhibited less severe drought injury, as exhibited by higher TQ, Pn, and daily ET rate compared with colonial bentgrass and creeping bentgrass. Velvet bentgrass also had significantly less ABA accumulation, which could allow for continued gas exchange and sustained plant survival during drought stress compared with colonial bentgrass and creeping bentgrass. Upon rewatering after drought stress, colonial bentgrass exhibited more rapid recovery in turfgrass growth and water use compared with creeping bentgrass and velvet bentgrass. The higher recuperative ability of colonial bentgrass could be associated with its more rapid decline in ABA content and increases in cytokinin content compared with creeping bentgrass and velvet bentgrass.


HortScience ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1512-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel G. Astacio ◽  
Marc W. van Iersel

It is common for plants in the retail market to receive inadequate water and lose aesthetic value within a short period of time. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is naturally produced in response to drought conditions and reduces transpiration (E) by closing the stomata. Thus, ABA may lengthen shelf life of retail plants by reducing water loss. Two studies were conducted to look at effects of ABA on plant water use and shelf life over a 13-day period and short-term effects of ABA on leaf physiology. The objective of the short-term study was to determine how quickly 100-mL drenches of 250 mg·L−1 ABA solution affect leaf gas exchange of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Supersweet 100’). ABA drenches reduced stomatal conductance (gS), E, and photosynthetic rate (Pn) within 60 min. After 2 h, E, gs, and Pn were reduced by 66%, 72%, and 55% respectively, compared with the control plants. In the13-day study, ABA was applied to tomatoes as a 100-mL drench at concentrations ranging from 0 to 1000 mg·L−1 and ABA effects on water use and time to wilting were quantified. Half of the plants were not watered after ABA application, whereas the other plants were watered as needed. In general, higher ABA concentrations resulted in less water use by both well-watered and unwatered plants. ABA delayed wilting of unwatered plants by 2 to 8 days (dependent on the dose) as compared with control plants. In well-watered plants, ABA reduced daily evapotranspiration (ET) for 5 days, after which there were no further ABA effects. Negative side effects of the ABA application were rate-dependent chlorosis of the lower leaves followed by leaf abscission. These studies demonstrate that ABA drenches rapidly close stomata, limit transpirational water loss, and can extend the shelf life of retail plants by up to 8 days, which exemplifies its potential as a commercially applied plant growth regulator.


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