Dynamics of Abscisic Acid Levels during Grain-Filling in Rice : Comparisons between Superior and Inferior Spikelets

Abstract

In a rice panicle, the superior spikelets display higher growth rates than the inferior spikelets during the initial phase of grain-filling. To better understand the regulatory mechanism of this phenomenon, we examined the dynamics of endogenous abscisic-acid (ABA) levels and the effects of shading on the dynamics during the grain-filling period in superior and inferior spikelets. While ABA content in the superior spikelets increased rapidly after flowering, that in the inferior spikelets increased slowly and reached the maximum later than in the superior spikelets. Shading significantly exaggerated the inherently different ABA dynamics between the superior and inferior spikelets. We concluded that ABA levels are correlated with the dry matter accumulation patterns of spikelets. These results support our hypothesis that ABA is involved in assimilate partitioning among spikelets in a panicle during the initial phase of grain-filling of rice.