Effects of Abscisic Acid on Drought Responses of Kentucky Bluegrass

By Zhaolong Wang, Bingru Huang, Qingzhang Xu. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 2003

93 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important hormone regulating plant response to drought stress. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of exogenous ABA application on turf performance and physiological activities of kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) in response to drought stress. Plants of two kentucky bluegrass cultivars, `Brilliant' (drought susceptible) and `Midnight' (drought tolerant), were treated with ABA (100 μm) or water by foliar application and then grown under drought stress (no irrigation) or well-watered (irrigation on alternate days) conditions in a growth chamber. The two cultivars responded similarly to ABA application under both watering regimes. Foliar application of ABA had no effects on turf quality or physiological parameters under well-watered conditions. ABA application, however, helped maintain higher turf quality and delayed the quality decline during drought stress, compared to the untreated control. ABA-treated plants exposed to drought stress had higher cell membrane stability, as indicated by less electrolyte leakage of leaves, and higher photochemical efficiency, expressed as Fv/Fm, compared to untreated plants. Leaf water potential was not significantly affected, whereas leaf turgor pressure increased with ABA application after 9 and 12 d of drought. Osmotic adjustment increased with ABA application, and was sustained for a longer period of drought in `Midnight' than in `Brilliant'. The results suggested that exogenous ABA application improved turf performance during drought in both drought-sensitive and tolerant cultivars of kentucky bluegrass. This positive effect of ABA could be related to increased osmotic adjustment, cell turgor maintenance, and reduced damage to cell membranes and the photosynthetic system.

Subfields: Environmental Chemistry, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/644cff69cf5d24ee77de0511b99d0b0b12ca6306

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Environmental Chemistry

1. M. Dacosta
2. Yiwei Jiang
3. Bingru Huang
4. Emily Merewitz
5. T. Gianfagna
6. L. Cui
7. Jun Li
8. Yetang Wang

In Global and Planetary Change

1. M. Dacosta
2. Yiwei Jiang
3. Bingru Huang
4. Emily Merewitz
5. T. Gianfagna
6. L. Cui
7. A. Wahid
8. Jun Li

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. Yiwei Jiang
2. M. Dacosta
3. Bingru Huang
4. Emily Merewitz
5. T. Gianfagna

Citations in the corpus

• Research Advances in Mechanisms of Turfgrass Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses: From Physiology to Molecular Biology (2014, background): “Exogenous ABA application to tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass leaves improved drought resistance by inducing stomatal closure and enhancing osmotic adjustment (Jiang and Huang, 2001a; Wang et al., 2003a).”
• Effects of SAG12-ipt and HSP18.2-ipt Expression on Cytokinin Production, Root Growth, and Leaf Senescence in Creeping Bentgrass Exposed to Drought Stress (2010, methodology): “Lower levels of ABA accumulation have been correlated to drought tolerance in different perennial grass species due to less cellular damage, most likely achieved by alternative drought-adaptive mechanisms (DaCosta and Huang, 2007; Volaire et al., 1998; Wang et al., 2003).”