Association of glutathione with flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant Cell Physiol. 2001 May;42(5):524-30. doi: 10.1093/pcp/pce065.

Abstract

In order to study the relationship between GSH and flowering, wild-type and late-flowering mutant, fca-1, of Arabidopsis thaliana were treated with L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH biosynthesis, under long-day conditions. BSO treatment of the fca-1 mutant starting at 17 d after imbibition promoted flowering. However, when the treatment was started at 12 d after imbibition, BSO treatment at 10(-4) M resulted in an inhibition of flowering. This inhibitory effect of BSO on flowering was abolished by GSH treatment at 10(-4) M, although GSH treatment at an increased concentration of 10(-3) M clearly delayed flowering. In contrast, BSO treatment of wild-type plants starting at 12 d after imbibition promoted flowering, whose effect was abolished by GSH application. In the fca-1 mutant, whose endogenous GSH levels were high, chilling treatment lowered the GSH levels and promoted flowering, as was the case in the BSO treatment. An A. thaliana mutant, cad2-1, which has a defect in GSH biosynthesis also exhibited late flowering. The late-flowering phenotype of this mutant tended to be strengthened by BSO and abolished by GSH treatment. These results suggest that flowering is associated with the rate of GSH biosynthesis and/or the levels of GSH in A. thaliana.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / enzymology
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Buthionine Sulfoximine
  • Cyclophosphamide / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Glutathione / metabolism
  • Glutathione / physiology*
  • Glutathione Transferase / metabolism
  • Light
  • Methionine Sulfoximine / analogs & derivatives
  • Methionine Sulfoximine / pharmacology
  • Morphogenesis
  • Mutation
  • Phenotype

Substances

  • Methionine Sulfoximine
  • Buthionine Sulfoximine
  • Cyclophosphamide
  • Glutathione Transferase
  • Glutathione