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Antagonistic Changes between Abscisic Acid and Gibberellins in Citrus Fruits Subjected to a Series of Different Water Conditions

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Abstract

The relationship between absicisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) changes in developing fruitlets from both Clementina (Citrus clementina, Hort ex Tan) and Okitsu (Citrus unshiu, (Mak) Marc.) trees subjected to changing water conditions was investigated. The treatments consisted of a series of water stress, rainfall, and re-irrigation periods. To confirm the effectiveness of the imposed water changes, leaf water potential and soil moisture were measured. The data indicated that there were antagonistic changes between ABA and GA20, because in both species ABA increased and GA20 decreased during water stress, whereas re-hydration via either rainfall or irrigation reduced ABA but increased GA20. In addition, the data indicated that during water stress GA1 also decreased, whereas GA8 did not change. After re-hydration, however, levels of GA20 products, in general were rather dependent upon the hormonal levels induced in the previous water status. In conclusion, the results showed the occurrence of antagonistic changes between the levels of ABA and GA20 in developing citrus fruitlets subjected to changing water conditions. The data might suggest that gibberellin 20-oxidase is regulated by water stress in citrus fruits.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Peter Hedden and Mr. Stephen J. Croker for help on ABA analysis. Also we thank Dr. Juan R. Castel for TDR equipment. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología and Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias through grants AGL2003-08502-C04-01 and RTA02-106, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Suelos y Riegos, Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias, Apdo 60 La Laguna, La Laguna Tenerife, E-38200, Spain

    Jalel Mahouachi

  2. Departamento de Ciencias Experimentales, Universitat Jaume I, Campus Riu Sec, Castellón, E-12071, Spain

    Aurelio Gómez-Cadenas

  3. Centro de Genómica, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Moncada, Valencia, E-46113, Spain

    Eduardo Primo-Millo & Manuel Talon

Authors
  1. Jalel Mahouachi
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  2. Aurelio Gómez-Cadenas
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  3. Eduardo Primo-Millo
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  4. Manuel Talon
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Correspondence to Jalel Mahouachi.

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Mahouachi, J., Gómez-Cadenas, A., Primo-Millo, E. et al. Antagonistic Changes between Abscisic Acid and Gibberellins in Citrus Fruits Subjected to a Series of Different Water Conditions. J Plant Growth Regul 24, 179–187 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-004-0001-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-004-0001-y

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