Abscisic Acid Induction of Vacuolar H⁺-ATPase Activity in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Is Developmentally Regulated¹

Bronwyn J. Barkla^*, Rosario Vera-Estrella, Minerva Maldonado-Gama, and Omar Pantoja

Departamento de Biología Molecular de Plantas, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 510-3, Colonia Miraval, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México 62250

Abscisic acid (ABA) has been implicated as a key component in water-deficit-induced responses, including those triggered by drought, NaCl, and low- temperature stress. In this study a role for ABA in mediating the NaCl-stress-induced increases in tonoplast H⁺-translocating ATPase (V-ATPase) and Na⁺/H⁺ antiport activity in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, leading to vacuolar Na⁺ sequestration, were investigated. NaCl or ABA treatment of adult M. crystallinum plants induced V-ATPase H⁺ transport activity, and when applied in combination, an additive effect on V-ATPase stimulation was observed. In contrast, treatment of juvenile plants with ABA did not induce V-ATPase activity, whereas NaCl treatment resulted in a similar response to that observed in adult plants. Na⁺/H⁺ antiport activity was induced in both juvenile and adult plants by NaCl, but ABA had no effect at either developmental stage. Results indicate that ABA-induced changes in V-ATPase activity are dependent on the plant reaching its adult phase, whereas NaCl-induced increases in V-ATPase and Na⁺/H⁺ antiport activity are independent of plant age. This suggests that ABA-induced V-ATPase activity may be linked to the stress-induced, developmentally programmed switch from C₃ metabolism to Crassulacean acid metabolism in adult plants, whereas, vacuolar Na⁺ sequestration, mediated by the V-ATPase and Na⁺/H⁺ antiport, is regulated through ABA-independent pathways.

Plant Physiol. (1999) 120: 811-820
Copyright Clearance Center:   0032-0889/99/120//10
© 1999 American Society of Plant Physiologists

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