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Effects of ethylene and abscisic acid upon heterophylly in Ludwigia arcuata (Onagraceae)

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Abstract

In this study, we examined the effects of ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) upon heterophyllous leaf formation of Ludwigia arcuata Walt. Treatment with ethylene gas resulted in the formation of submerged-type leaves on terrestrial shoots of L. arcuata, while treatments with ABA induced the formation of terrestrial-type leaves on submerged shoots. Measurement of the endogenous ethylene concentration of submerged shoots showed that it was higher than that of terrestrial ones. In contrast, the endogenous ABA concentration of terrestrial shoots was higher than that of submerged ones. To clarify interactions of ethylene and ABA, simultaneous additions of these two plant hormones were examined. When L. arcuata plants were treated with these two plant hormones, the effects of ABA dominated that of ethylene, resulting in the formation of terrestrial-type leaves. This suggests that ABA may be located downstream of ethylene in signal transduction chains for forming heterophyllous changes. Further, ethylene treatment induced the reduction of endogenous levels of ABA in tissues of L. arcuata, resulting in the formation of submerged-type leaves. Thus the effects of ethylene and ABA upon heterophyllous leaf formation are discussed in relationship to the cross-talk between signaling pathways of ethylene and ABA.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

ACC:

1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid

L/W ratio:

ratio of leaf length to width

LN:

leaf number

GAs:

gibberellins

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Richard Thompson (INRA, Dijon, France) for his critical reading of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Prof. Noriaki Kondo of the University of Tokyo and Dr. Nobuyoshi Nakajima of National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan, for their valuable advice in exposing plants to ethylene gas and allowing us to use their gas chromatographs and other equipment. Some of the experiments were technically assisted by Mr. Kenro Imamura and Ms. Erika Oka of the University of Tokyo. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (T.N.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033, Tokyo, Japan

    Asuka Kuwabara & Toshiyuki Nagata

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji-shi, 192-0397, Tokyo, Japan

    Keiichi Ikegami & Tomokazu Koshiba

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  1. Asuka Kuwabara
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  2. Keiichi Ikegami
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  3. Tomokazu Koshiba
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  4. Toshiyuki Nagata
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Correspondence to Asuka Kuwabara.

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Kuwabara, A., Ikegami, K., Koshiba, T. et al. Effects of ethylene and abscisic acid upon heterophylly in Ludwigia arcuata (Onagraceae). Planta 217, 880–887 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-003-1062-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-003-1062-z

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