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Radioimmunoassay for the determination of free and conjugated abscisic acid

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Abstract

The characterization and application of a radioimmunoassay specific for free and conjugated abscisic acid (ABA) is reported. The antibodies produced against a bovine serum albumin-(±)-ABA conjugate have a high affinity for ABA (Ka=1.3x109l mol-1). Trans, trans-ABA and related compounds, such as xanthoxin, phaseic acid, dihydrophaseic acid, vomifoliol or violaxanthin do not interfere with the assay. The detection limit of this method is 0.25x10-12 mol ABA, the measuring range extends to 20x10-12 mol, and average recoveries are 103%. Because of the high specificity of this immunoassay, no extract purification steps are required prior to analysis. Several hundred plants can be analyzed per day in a semi-automatic assay performance. ABA has been detected in all higher plant families examined, but was absent in the blue-green alga, Spirulina platensis, the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, and two species of fungi.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

BHT:

2.6-di-t-butyl-4-methyl phenol

TLC:

thin-layer chromatography

HSA:

human serum albumin

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenphysiologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Postfach 102148, D-4630, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany

    Elmar W. Weiler

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  1. Elmar W. Weiler
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Part 7 in the Series: “Use of Immunoassay in Plant Science”

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Weiler, E.W. Radioimmunoassay for the determination of free and conjugated abscisic acid. Planta 144, 255–263 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388767

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388767

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