Cell biological mechanism for triggering of ABA accumulation under water stress inVicia faba leaves

Water stress-induced ABA accumulation is a cellular signaling process from water stress perception to activation of genes encoding key enzymes of ABA biosynthesis, of which the water stress-signal perception by cells or triggering mechanism of the ABA accumulation is the center in the whole process of ABA related-stress signaling in plants. The cell biological mechanism for triggering of ABA accumulation under water stress was studied in leaves ofVicia faba. Mannitol at 890 mmol ·kg^-1 osmotic concentration induced an increase of more than 5 times in ABA concentration in detached leaf tissues, but the same concentration of mannitol only induced an increase of less than 40 % in ABA concentration in protoplasts. Like in detached leaf tissues, ABA concentration in isolated cells increased more than 10 times under the treatment of mannitol at 890 mmol · kg^-1 concentration, suggesting that the interaction between plasmalemma and cell wall was essential to triggering of the water stress-induced ABA accumulation. Neither Ca²⁺-chelating agent EGTA nor Ca²⁺channel activator A23187 nor the two cytoskeleton inhibitors, colchicine and cytochalasin B, had any effect on water stress-induced ABA accumulation. Interestingly water stress-induced ABA accumulation was effectively inhibited by a non-plasmalemma-permeable sulfhydryl-modifier PCMBS (p-chloromercuriphenyl-sulfonic acid), suggesting that plasmalemma protein(s) may be involved in the triggering of water stress-induced ABA accumulation, and the protein may contain sulfhydryl group at its function domain.