Ethylene, auxin, and abscisic acid interactions in the control of photoperiodic flower induction in Pharbitis nil

Abstract

Interactions between indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), and ethylene (ET) in the photoperiodic flower induction of a short-day (SD) plant Pharbitis nil were investigated. It was shown that both IAA and ABA applied just before and during the first half of the 16-h-long inductive night inhibited flower induction in P. nil. Ethylene is also thought to be a strong flowering inhibitor of SD plants but only when it is applied in the second half of the inductive night. The application of IAA just before the inductive night decreased the content of endogenous ABA in cotyledons only during the first half of the inductive night. Additionally, the application of 2-aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) - an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor - partially reversed the inhibitory effect of IAA and ABA on flowering. The results suggest that the mechanisms of P. nil flower inhibition by IAA and ABA might be independent. However, both the hormones influenced ethylene production which directly inhibited flowering. We also show that ABA applied on the cotyledons of P. nil seedlings just before the inductive night caused a clear increase in the expression of PnACS1 and PnACS2 genes (encoding enzymes involved in ethylene biosynthesis) from the first hours after its application. The transcripts of PnACO1 and PnACO3 genes were also increased but their maximal values were shifted in relation to the PnACS1 and PnACS2. The data presented here strongly support the idea that both IAA and ABA inhibit P. nil flowering through the modulation of ethylene biosynthesis.

Keywords

• gene expression
• hormones
• short-day plant