title: Effects of abscisic acid on ethylene biosynthesis and perception in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. flower development.
abstract: The effect of the complex relationship between ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) on flower development and senescence in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. was investigated. Ethylene biosynthetic (HrsACS and HrsACO) and receptor (HrsETR and HrsERS) genes were isolated and their expression evaluated in three different floral tissues (petals, style-stigma plus stamens, and ovaries) of detached buds and open flowers. This was achieved through treatment with 0.1 mM 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) solution, 500 nl l(-1) methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), and 0.1 mM ABA solution. Treatment with ACC and 1-MCP confirmed that flower senescence in hibiscus is ethylene dependent, and treatment with exogenous ABA suggested that ABA may play a role in this process. The 1-MCP impeded petal in-rolling and decreased ABA content in detached open flowers after 9 h. This was preceded by an earlier and sequential increase in ABA content in 1-MCP-treated petals and style-stigma plus stamens between 1 h and 6 h. ACC treatment markedly accelerated flower senescence and increased ethylene production after 6 h and 9 h, particularly in style-stigma plus stamens. Ethylene evolution was positively correlated in these floral tissues with the induction of the gene expression of ethylene biosynthetic and receptor genes. Finally, ABA negatively affected the ethylene biosynthetic pathway and tissue sensitivity in all flower tissues. Transcript abundance of HrsACS, HrsACO, HrsETR, and HrsERS was reduced by exogenous ABA treatment. This research underlines the regulatory effect of ABA on the ethylene biosynthetic and perception machinery at a physiological and molecular level when inhibitors or promoters of senescence are exogenously applied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Biology, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 24, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trivellini
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vernieri
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serra
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000598:Amino Acids, Cyclic / Q000494:pharmacology; D003521:Cyclopropanes / Q000494:pharmacology; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D035264:Flowers / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D031584:Hibiscus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000598:Amino Acids, Cyclic; D003521:Cyclopropanes; D005030:Ethylenes; D010940:Plant Proteins; C023863:1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid; C105498:1-methylcyclopropane; D000040:Abscisic Acid; C036216:ethylene