Inhibition of carotenoid accumulation and abscisic acid biosynthesis in fluridone‐treated dark‐grown barley

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Abstract
Treatment of dark-grown barley with 0.1 mM fluridone inhibited carotenoid accumulation but did not alter plastid biogenesis. Plastids isolated from dark-grown control and dark-grown fluridone-treated plants were similar in size and protein compositions. Dehydration of dark-grown control barley caused abscisic acid levels to increase 30–40-fold in 4 h, while plants treated with 0.1 mM fluridone accumulated very little abscisic acid in response to dehydration. These results suggest that fluridone-treated plants do not accumulate abscisic acid because of carotenoid deficiency rather than plastid dysfunction. Dark-grown barley plants treated with 0.31 μM fluridone accumulated low levels of carotenoids. Dehydration of these plants resulted in a 4–8-fold increase in abscisic acid and a decrease in antheraxanthin, violaxanthin and neoxanthin, but no change in β-carotene or lutein plus zeaxanthin levels. This result is consistent with the suggestion that xanthophylls are precursors to abscisic acid in dehydrated plants.