The interaction of light and abscisic acid in the regulation of plant gene expression

Extended dark treatments of light-grown plants of both Lemna gibba and Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in substantial increases in abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations. The concentration of ABA could be negatively regulated by phytochrome action in Lemna. As has been noted in other species, ABA treatment reduced Lemna rbcS and Lhcb RNA levels, which are positively regulated by phytochrome in many species. In view of these observations, the possibility that phytochrome effects on gene expression may be mediated primarily by changes in ABA was tested using a transient assay in intact plants. The phytochrome responsiveness of the Lemna Lhcb2*1 promoter was still apparent in the presence of exogenous ABA. Additionally, when 2-bp mutations were introduced into this promoter so that phytochrome responsiveness was lost, a response to exogenous ABA was still present. We conclude that phytochrome- and ABA-response elements are separable in the Lhcb2*1 promoter. We tested whether the effects of ABA on RNA abundance could be inhibited by treatment with gibberellin and found no evidence for such an inhibition. We have also found that the ABA-responsive Em promoter of wheat can be negatively regulated by phytochrome action. It is likely that this regulation is mediated at least in part by phytochrome-induced changes in ABA levels. Our results demonstrate that it is essential to take into account that dark treatments and the phytochrome system can affect ABA levels when interpreting studies of light-regulated genes.