Hormones in Relation to Stress Recovery in Populus robusta Cuttings

The relationships between changes in WSD,² stomatal resistance,and hormone levels during stress and stress recovery have beeninvestigated in a perennial plant, Populus robusta, over anextended stress period, involving a number of stress cyclesof differing duration. There were marked increases in WSD, stomatal resistance, freeABA levels, and ethylene levels in leaves and stems during stressimposition. However, during stress recovery, WSD declined mostrapidly, while decreases in other parameters were related tothe duration of the preceding stress. In general, the declinein stomatal resistance and free ABA levels to control valueswas protracted. Although there were increases in bound ABA levels,above control values, there was no close correlation with changesin free ABA levels. The concentrations of bound ABA observedin the latter phases of these experiments were higher than freelevels. No clear pattern of change in IAA concentration emerged in responseto stress or stress recovery. Although ethylene concentrations rise in response to initialstress imposition and fall during relief, subsequent stressand stress relief periods were without significant effect. The results are discussed in relation to the role of endogenousgrowth regulators in the response of plants to stress and inparticular the fate of stress-induced ABA.     

Effect of Osmotic Stress Upon Endogenous Hormone Levels in Euphorbia lathyrus L. and Vicis faba L.

Ethylene concentrations rise in stems, lacunae and roots ofEuphorbia Iathyrus subjected to osmotic stress. In contrastto other species, however, no such changes are observed in leaves.Similarly, ABA concentrations rise in the leaves of osmotically-stressedplants but little change was observed in roots. In no case wasthere any strong evidence for the existence of a threshold ofosmotic potential above which a response will not occur. Instead,marked increases in concentrations of both ABA and ethylenewere obtained in response to osmotic stresses which did notresult in significant changes in water saturation defecit (WSD)during the experiment. In Vicia faba, time course studies at constant osmotic potentialshowed that ABA concentrations increased with duration of stressand increased WSD but the effect was most marked in youngertissues for a given level of stress. Concentrations of boundABA showed a similar pattern with time but here the change wasleast marked in the younger tissues. Euphorbia Iathyrus, Vicia faba, endogenous growth regulators, osmotic stress     

Effect of water stress on metabolism of abscisic acid in Populus robusta× schnied and Euphorbia lathyrus L.

Abstract. Dihydrophaseic acid (DPA) has been identified in leaves from Euphorbia lathyrus L and Populus robusta x schnied. The formation of DPA from abscisic acid (ABA) was demonstrated using ¹⁴C-ABA. Measurements of ABA, DPA and phaseic acid (PA) concentrations were made in Euphorbia subjected to drought and waterlogging and in Populus subjected to rhythmic water stress. The results are consistent with the proposition that ABA concentrations are controlled by de novo biosynthesis and by metabolism via the PA /DPA pathway. The findings are discussed in relation to effects of the type of stress and its duration and to behaviour during stress relief.     

Effects of Age and Water Stress on Endogenous Levels of Plant Growth Regulators in Euphorbia lathyrus L.

The effect of droughting and waterlogging on changes in endogenouslevels of hormones have been studied in Euphorbia lathyrus L.with particular reference to plant age and leaf age. Younger tissues (i.e. immature leaves and young plants) synthesizedsignificantly greater amounts of ABA per unit fresh weight thandid corresponding older tissue. The increased ABA levels correlatedwell with corresponding increases in water saturation deficit(WSD) and stomatal resistance in a given treatment but the relationshipbetween the absolute values of these three parameters variedgreatly between seedlings of different ages. Endogenous ethylenelevels in leaves and stems were unaffected by droughting irrespectiveof age. Imposition of waterlogging led to marked increases in ABA levelsin young plants though this was not strictly related to changesin WSD or stomatal resistance. Endogenous levels of ethyleneincreased in response to waterlogging, this being marked inthe older seedlings which also had a higher incidence of senescenceand abscission. The more complex effects of waterlogging, the significance ofage of tissue on hormonal responses to stress, and the adaptivevalue of such responses to younger tissues are discussed.