Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important plant hormone and may be involved in drought resistance in crops. The effects of exogenous ABA application on wheat plant (Triticum aestivum L.) under drought stress were investigated. Two wheat cultivars, Yumai 949 and Shaanmai 5 in grain filling stage were drought stressed by PEG for 72 h. The results showed a marked decrease in relative water contents (RWC), chlorophyll contents, and yield, along with a significant increase in MDA content. Meanwhile, an obvious transcriptional inhibition in psbA gene of photosystem II (PSII) system after PEG exposure was also determined by reverse transcriptional semiquantitative polymerase chain amplification assay. The exogenous ABA treatment could significantly alleviate the stress injury. Moreover, compared to Yumai 949, Shaanmai 5 had less destroyed plasma membranes, less reduces in RWC, chlorophyll contents, yield and psbA transcriptional level, and all parameters could be restored to the levels of control by exogenous ABA treatment, suggesting a correlationship between cultivar dependent drought stress resistance and psbA gene expression. The present results firstly provide some evidences to the important regulatory function of exogenous ABA on psbA expression, and proposed that the application of exogenous ABA could enhance the stress resistance of wheat plant at grain filling stage by protecting important gene transcription in PSD system.%脱落酸(abscisic acid,ABA)是一种重要的植物激素,与作物的抗干旱胁迫密切相关.本试验以灌浆期的豫麦949和陕麦5号小麦品种为试材,PEG干旱处理72 h后,比较了脱落酸对小麦相对水分含量、叶绿素、丙二醛含量以及产量的影响,并采用反转录半定量PCR方法测定PSII中psbA基因转录水平的变化.结果表明,干旱胁迫明显降低小麦叶片中相对水分和叶绿素含量,增加丙二醛含量,抑制psbA基因的转录,降低小麦的产量,而外源脱落酸能明显缓解这些胁迫反应.与豫麦949相比,陕麦5号中质膜损伤较小,相对水分和叶绿素含量、产量以及psbA基因转录水平的下降也较小,外源脱落酸处理后,各参数也能够恢复到对照水平,说明不同小麦品种的抗干旱胁迫能力与psbA基因的表达水平密切相关.本研究首次发现外源ABA能够调控干旱胁迫下灌浆期小麦psbA基因的表达,稳定PSII系统中重要基因的转录水平,从而提高灌浆期小麦的抗干旱胁迫能力.
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