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Effects of exogenous abscisic acid on leaf carbohydrate metabolism during cucumber seedling dehydration

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Abstract

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seeds were pretreated with exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) prior to germination. After germination, seedlings with three leaves were exposed to gradual dehydration. The effects of ABA on photosynthetic rate (Pn), daily water loss (WL) and water utilization efficiency (WUE) during dehydration were investigated, in addition to the variation of carbohydrates in leaves. ABA improved the Pn, WL and WUE of cucumber seedlings during dehydration. After rehydration, the seedlings pretreated with ABA showed a higher recovery in Pn, WL and WUE, as compared to those without an ABA pretreatment. Subsequent to dehydration, concentration of stachyose, raffinose, sucrose, glucose, and fructose increased in seedlings pretreated with ABA. Dehydration altered the proportions of the sugars in the total carbohydrates, and accelerated the accumulation of stachyose, raffinose and sucrose. After rehydration, carbohydrate concentrations of seedlings pretreated with ABA recovered to levels observed prior to dehydration. These results demonstrated that pretreatment of seeds with exogenous ABA enhanced carbohydrate tolerance to dehydration of cucumber seedlings.

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Abbreviations

RFOs:

Raffinose family oligosaccharides

ABA:

Abscisic acid

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

Pn:

Photosynthetic rate

Tr:

Transpiration rate

WL:

Water lost every day

WUE:

Water utilization efficiency

ND:

No ABA pretreatment and natural dehydration

AD:

ABA pretreatment and natural dehydration

NAND:

No ABA pretreatment and no dehydration all the time

FW:

Fresh weight

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Technologies Research and Development (R & D) Program of China (2006BAD07B04, 2007BAD69B06), the Key Program of Agricultural Ministry in China (nyhyzx07-007) and the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System. The authors are indebted to Yang Liu for her work during the experiment. The anonymous reviewing editors and reviewers are gratefully thanked for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Technological Laboratory in Agriculture Application in Beijing, Plant Science and Technology Department, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, China

    Shaohui Wang

  2. College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agriculture University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Shaohui Wang, Liping Hu, Jianlei Sun, Xiaolei Sui, Yuxia Wei & Zhenxian Zhang

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  1. Shaohui Wang
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  2. Liping Hu
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  3. Jianlei Sun
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  4. Xiaolei Sui
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  6. Zhenxian Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhenxian Zhang.

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Wang, S., Hu, L., Sun, J. et al. Effects of exogenous abscisic acid on leaf carbohydrate metabolism during cucumber seedling dehydration. Plant Growth Regul 66, 87–93 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-011-9632-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-011-9632-8

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