Association of glutathione with flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana.
In order to study the relationship between GSH and flowering, wild-type and late-flowering mutant, fca-1, of Arabidopsis thaliana were treated with L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH biosynthesis, under long-day conditions. BSO treatment of the fca-1 mutant starting at 17 d after imbibition promoted flowering. However, when the treatment was started at 12 d after imbibition, BSO treatment at 10(-4) M resulted in an inhibition of flowering. This inhibitory effect of BSO on flowering was abolished by GSH treatment at 10(-4) M, although GSH treatment at an increased concentration of 10(-3) M clearly delayed flowering. In contrast, BSO treatment of wild-type plants starting at 12 d after imbibition promoted flowering, whose effect was abolished by GSH application. In the fca-1 mutant, whose endogenous GSH levels were high, chilling treatment lowered the GSH levels and promoted flowering, as was the case in the BSO treatment. An A. thaliana mutant, cad2-1, which has a defect in GSH biosynthesis also exhibited late flowering. The late-flowering phenotype of this mutant tended to be strengthened by BSO and abolished by GSH treatment. These results suggest that flowering is associated with the rate of GSH biosynthesis and/or the levels of GSH in A. thaliana.
Ogawa
K
K
Research Institute for Biological Sciences, Okayama, 7549-1 Yoshikawa, Kayou-cho, Okayama, 716-1241 Japan. ogawa_k@bc4.so-net.ne.jp
Tasaka
Y
Y
Mino
M
M
Tanaka
Y
Y
Iwabuchi
M
M
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D019328:Buthionine Sulfoximine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D008027:Light; D008717:Methionine Sulfoximine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype
D008717:Methionine Sulfoximine; D019328:Buthionine Sulfoximine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D005978:Glutathione