Abscisic Acid (ABA)

Adrian J Cutler, Plant Biotechnology Institute, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Published online: March 2009

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020088.pub2

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone found in all higher plants that mediates responses to abiotic stress conditions and controls stomatal aperture. It is also involved in seed development and is associated with seed dormancy. ABA is biosynthesized in higher plants from carotenoid precursors. ABA acts via a complex signalling process leading to both short-term changes in ion channel activity and long-term effects on gene expression.

Keywords: abiotic stress; germination; dormancy; 9-cis epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase; phytohormone

Figure 1. Biosynthesis of ABA from epoxycarotenoids. Dotted lines indicate possible alternate pathways. NCED; 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase.
Figure 2. Catabolism of ABA. Major catabolic processes are shown via hydroxylation at the 7¢-, 8¢- and 9¢-positions of ABA as well as glucose ester formation. DPA, dihydrophaseic acid and PA, phaseic acid.
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 References
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 Further Reading
    Abraham E, Rigo G, Szekely G et al. (2003) Light-dependent induction of proline biosynthesis by abscisic acid and salt stress is inhibited by brassinosteroid in Arabidopsis. Plant Molecular Biology 51: 363–372.
    Barrero JM, Piqueras P, Gonzalez-Guzman M et al. (2005) A mutational analysis of the ABA1 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana highlights the involvement of ABA in vegetative development. Journal of Experimental Botany 56: 2071–2083.
    Gazzarini P and McCourt P (2003) Cross-talk in plant hormone signalling: what Arabidopsis mutants are telling us. Annals of Botany (London) 91: 605–612.
    Perras MR, Abrams SR and Balsevich JJ (1994) Characterization of an abscisic acid carrier in suspension-cultured barley cells. Journal of Experimental Botany 45: 1565–1573.
    Riera M, Valon C, Fenzi F, Giraudat J and Leung J (2005) The genetics of adaptive responses to drought stress: abscisic acid-dependent and abscisic acid-independent signalling components. Physiologia Plantarum 123: 111–119.
    Sharp RE (2002) Interaction with ethylene: changing views on the role of abscisic acid in root and shoot growth responses to water stress. Plant Cell Environment 25: 211–222.
    Zhang JH, Jia WS, Yang JC and Ismail AM (2006) Role of ABA in integrating plant responses to drought and salt stresses. Field Crops Research 97: 111–119.

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Plant Secondary Metabolism
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Article Title: Abscisic Acid (ABA)
 
How to Cite close
Cutler, Adrian J(Mar 2009) Abscisic Acid (ABA). In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020088.pub2]