Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1994 Sep;106(1):135–142. doi: 10.1104/pp.106.1.135

Response of Cultured Maize Cells to (+)-Abscisic Acid, (-)-Abscisic Acid, and Their Metabolites.

J J Balsevich 1, A J Cutler 1, N Lamb 1, L J Friesen 1, E U Kurz 1, M R Perras 1, S R Abrams 1
PMCID: PMC159508  PMID: 12232311

Abstract

The metabolism and effects of (+)-S- and (-)-R-abscisic acid (ABA) and some metabolites were studied in maize (Zea mays L. cv Black Mexican Sweet) suspension-cultured cells. Time-course studies of metabolite formation were performed in both cells and medium via analytical high-performance liquid chromatography. Metabolites were isolated and identified using physical and chemical methods. At 10 [mu]M concentration and 28[deg] C, (+)-ABA was metabolized within 24 h, yielding natural (-)-phaseic acid [(-)-PA] as the major product. The unnatural enantiomer (-)-ABA was less than 50% metabolized within 24 h and gave primarily (-)-7[prime]-hydroxyABA [(-)-7[prime]-HOABA], together with (+)-PA and ABA glucose ester. The distribution of metabolites in cells and medium was different, reflecting different sites of metabolism and membrane permeabilities of conjugated and nonconjugated metabolites. The results imply that (+)-ABA was oxidized to (-)-PA inside the cell, whereas (-)-ABA was converted to (-)-7[prime]-HOABA at the cell surface. Growth of maize cells was inhibited by both (+)- and (-)-ABA, with only weak contributions from their metabolites. The concentration of (+)-ABA that caused a 50% inhibition of growth of maize cells was approximately 1 [mu]M, whereas that for its metabolite (-)-PA was approximately 50 [mu]M. (-)-ABA was less active than (+)-ABA, with 50% growth inhibition observed at about 10 [mu]M. (-)-7[prime]-HOABA was only weakly active, with 50% inhibition caused by approximately 500 [mu]M. Time-course studies of medium pH indicated that (+)-ABA caused a transient pH increase (+0.3 units) at 6 h after addition that was not observed in controls or in samples treated with (-)-PA. The effect of (-)-ABA on medium Ph was marginal. No racemization at C-1[prime] of (+)-ABA, (-)-ABA, or metabolites was observed during the studies.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (817.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Churchill G. C., Ewan B., Reaney M. J., Abrams S. R., Gusta L. V. Structure-Activity Relationships of Abscisic Acid Analogs Based on the Induction of Freezing Tolerance in Bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss) Cell Cultures. Plant Physiol. 1992 Dec;100(4):2024–2029. doi: 10.1104/pp.100.4.2024. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gehring C. A., Irving H. R., Parish R. W. Effects of auxin and abscisic acid on cytosolic calcium and pH in plant cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec 15;87(24):9645–9649. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.24.9645. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Sondheimer E., Galson E. C., Tinelli E., Walton D. C. The Metabolism of Hormones during Seed Germination and Dormancy: IV. The Metabolism of (S)-2-C-Abscisic Acid in Ash Seed. Plant Physiol. 1974 Dec;54(6):803–808. doi: 10.1104/pp.54.6.803. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Uknes S. J., Ho T. H. Mode of action of abscisic Acid in barley aleurone layers : abscisic Acid induces its own conversion to phaseic Acid. Plant Physiol. 1984 Aug;75(4):1126–1132. doi: 10.1104/pp.75.4.1126. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Xin Z., Li P. H. Abscisic Acid-induced chilling tolerance in maize suspension-cultured cells. Plant Physiol. 1992 Jun;99(2):707–711. doi: 10.1104/pp.99.2.707. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES