Abstract
Water deficit has a global impact on plant growth and crop yield. Climate changes are going to increase the intensity, duration and frequency of severe droughts, particularly in southern and south-eastern Europe, elevating the water scarcity issues. We aimed to assess the contribution of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) in the protective mechanisms against water deficit, including stomatal conductance, relative water potential and the accumulation of osmoprotectants, as well as on growth parameters. To achieve that, we used a suitable model system, ABA-deficient tomato mutant, flacca and its parental line. Flacca mutant exhibited constitutively higher levels of soluble sugars (e.g., galactose, arabinose, sorbitol) and free amino acids (AAs) compared with the wild type (WT). Water deficit provoked the strong accumulation of proline in both genotypes, and total soluble sugars only in flacca. Upon re-watering, these osmolytes returned to the initial levels in both genotypes. Our results indicate that flacca compensated higher stomatal conductance with a higher constitutive level of free sugars and AAs. Additionally, we suggest that the accumulation of AAs, particularly proline and its precursors and specific branched-chain AAs in both, glucose and sucrose in flacca, and sorbitol in WT, could contribute to maintaining growth rate during water deficit and recovery in both tomato genotypes.
Highlights
Drought is one of the major abiotic environmental factors that, in combination with high insolation and high temperatures, often cause detrimental losses in crop productivity [1,2,3]
Tomato genotypes were exposed for parameters and osmoprotectants during drought, flacca and wild type (WT) tomato genotypes were exposed for six days to water deficit (D), followed by six days of re-watering (R)
In our studies, flacca genotype grown under optimal conditions, exhibited 20–30% decreased leaf abscisic acid (ABA) content compared with its wild type (WT), Ailsa Craig cv
Summary
Drought is one of the major abiotic environmental factors that, in combination with high insolation and high temperatures, often cause detrimental losses in crop productivity [1,2,3]. Yield productivity is affected by climate changes, which involve repeated occurrences of limited water supply combined with elevated CO2 and high temperature, generating enhanced plant drought tolerance [5,6]. Abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in the response to various adverse environmental factors, to drought, through the regulation of specific signalling pathways and the modification. Despite the important role of particular ROS in stomatal closure and other downstream ABA signalling pathways [14], drought-induced ABA is responsible for the induction of several antioxidative enzymes [13], crucial in protection against potential oxidative damage
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
