Abscisic acid (ABA) concentration is a quantitatively inherited trait which plays a pivotal role in the response of plants to drought stress. A recent study identified 17 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling bulk-leaf ABA concentration (L-ABA) in a maize (Zea mays L.) population of 80 F4 random families tested for two years under droughted field conditions. Sixteen of the QTL regions influencing L-ABA also harboured QTLs for one or more of the following traits: stomatal conductance, a drought sensitivity index, leaf temperature, leaf relative water content, anthesis-silking interval, and grain yield. The analysis of the effects of each QTL region on the investigated traits indicated that L-ABA mainly represented an indicator of the level of drought stress experienced by the plant at the time of sampling because an increase in L-ABA was most commonly associated with a decrease in both stomatal conductance and grain yield as well as an increase in leaf temperature. Opposite results were observed at one QTL region on chromosome 7 near the RFLP locus asg8. A model is presented to interpret these contrasting results in terms of pleiotropic effects.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sanguineti et al. (1999) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 3 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: