Abscisic Acid and Cytokinins as Possible Root-to-Shoot Signals in Xylem Sap of Rice Plants in Drying Soil

Abstract

Seedlings of rice cv. IR 36 were grown in soil in small pots with a horizontally divided root system: after 6-7 weeks, about 20% of the entire root system had protruded through the holes at the base of the pots and was kept in contact with nutrient solution. At this stage the plants were exposed to three different treatments: (a) the soil was kept watered and the protruding free roots were dried in air; (b) the free roots were kept moist and the soil left unwatered; (c) both soil and protruding roots were left unwatered for 30 h and then rewatered. During the first hours of treatment a and b, a decline in stomatal conductance was observed, whereas the stem water potential remained unchanged. The concentration of abscisic acid (ABA) in the xylem, however, increased. At later stages of treatment a and b, the stem water potential began to decrease with a parallel further increase of xylem ABA. Xylem sap contained considerable amounts of bound ABA, the level of which increased during total root drying and decreased again after rewatering. Level of cytokinins, zeatin (t-Z)+zeatin riboside (t-ZR) and isopentenyladenine (2iP) + isopentenyladenosine (2iPA), on the contrary, decreased during root drying and increased again after rewatering. The results are discussed with regard to a possible function of ABA and cytokinins as root-to-shoot signals.