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The role of cis-carotenoids in abscisic acid biosynthesis

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Abstract

Evidence has been obtained which is consistent with 9′-cis-neoxanthin being a major precursor of abscisic acid (ABA) in higher plants. A mild, rapid procedure was developed for the extraction and analysis of carotenoids from a range of tissues. Once purified the carotenoids were identified from their light-absorbance properties, reactions with dilute acid, high-performance liquid chromatography Rts, mass spectra and the quasiequilibria resulting from iodine-catalysed or chlorophyllsensitised photoisomerisation. Two possible ABA precursors, 9′-cis-neoxanthin and 9-cis-violaxanthin, were identified in extracts of light-grown and etiolated leaves (of Lycopersicon esculentum, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vicia faba, Pisum sativum, Cicer arietinum, Zea mays, Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, Plantago lanceolata and Digitalis purpurea), and roots of light-grown and etiolated plants (Lycopersicon, Phaseolus and Zea). The 9,9′-di-cisisomer of violaxanthin was synthesised but its presence was not detected in any extracts. Levels of 9′-cis-neoxanthin and all-trans-violaxanthin were between 20- to 100-fold greater than those of ABA in light-grown leaves. The levels of 9-cis-violaxanthin were similar to those of ABA but unaffected by water stress. Etiolated Phaseolus leaves contained reduced amounts of carotenoids (15–20% compared with light-grown leaves) but retained the ability to synthesise large amounts of ABA. The amounts of ABA synthesised, measured as increases in ABA and its metabolites phaseic acid and dihydrophaseic acid, were closely matched by decreases in the levels of 9′-cis-neoxanthin and all-trans-violaxanthin. In etiolated seedlings grown on 50% D2O, deuterium incorporation into ABA was similar to that into the xanthophylls. Relative levels of carotenoids in roots and light-grown and etiolated leaves of the ABA-deficient mutants, notabilis, flacca and sitiens were the same as those found in wild-type tomato tissues.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

DPA:

dihydrophaseic acid

GC-MS:

gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

HPLC:

high-performance liquid chromatography

PA:

phaseic acid

t :

trans

Xan:

xanthoxin

flc :

flacca

not :

notabilis

sit :

sitiens

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Author notes

  1. M. J. Babiano

    Present address: Departmento de Biologia Vegetal, Facultad de Biologia, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008, Salamanca, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University College of Wales, SY23 3DA, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, UK

    A. D. Parry, M. J. Babiano & R. Horgan

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The authors would like to thank the following for their help and advice: G. Britton (Department of Biochemistry, University of Liverpool, UK), B.H. Davies (Department of Biochemistry, University of Wales, Aberystwyth), P. Molnar, J. Szabolcs, D.C. Walton (Department of Biology, Suny, Syracuse, N.Y., USA), and Mr. J.K. Heald for his expert operation of the mass spectrometer. A.D.P. was supported initially by a Science and Engineering Research Council CASE award with Shell Biosciences, Sittingbourne, Kent, UK, and later by a Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) grant. M.J.B. received a NATO fellowship. The mass spectrometer and HPLC-photodiode-array detector were purchased with funds provided by the AFRC.

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Parry, A.D., Babiano, M.J. & Horgan, R. The role of cis-carotenoids in abscisic acid biosynthesis. Planta 182, 118–128 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239993

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