Abscisic acid and cytokinins in the root exudates and leaves and their relationship to senescence and remobilization of carbon reserves in rice subjected to water stress during grain filling

The possible regulation of senescence-initiated remobilization of carbon reserves in rice (Oryza sativa L.) by abscisic acid (ABA) and cytokinins was studied using two rice cultivars with high lodging resistance and slow remobilization. The plants were grown in pots and either well-watered (WW, soil water potential = 0 MPa) or water-stressed (WS, soil water potential = -0.05 MPa) from 9 days after anthesis until they reached maturity. Leaf water potentials of both cultivars markedly decreased at midday as a result of water stress but completely recovered by early morning. Chlorophyll (Chl) and photosynthetic rate (Pr) of the flag leaves declined faster in WS plants than in WW plants, indicating that the water deficit enhanced senescence. Water stress accelerated starch remobilization in the stems, promoted the re-allocation of pre-fixed ¹⁴C from the stems to grains, shortened the grain-filling period and increased the grain-filling rate. Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS, EC 2.4.1.14) activity was enhanced by water stress and positively correlated with sucrose accumulation in both the stem and leaves. Water stress substantially increased ABA but reduced zeatin (Z) + zeatin riboside (ZR) concentrations in the root exudates and leaves. ABA significantly and negatively, while Z + ZR positively, correlated with Pr and Chl of the flag leaves. ABA, not Z + ZR, was positively and significantly correlated with SPS activity and remobilization of prestored carbon. Spraying ABA reduced Chl in the flag leaves, and enhanced SPS activity and remobilization of carbon reserves. Spraying kinetin had the opposite effect. The results suggest that both ABA and cytokinins are involved in controlling plant senescence, and an enhanced carbon remobilization is attributed to an elevated ABA level in rice plants subjected to water stress.