Abstract. Contradictory results have been reported for the effects of triazoles on abscisic acid (ABA) levels in plants. Paclobutrazol reduced the height, fresh weight, and ABA levels of wheat seedlings. The magnitude of the inhibitory effect of paclobutrazol on ABA levels was dependent on the length of time after application. ABA levels in plants as determined by gas chromatographyselected ion monitoring-mass spectrometry (GC-SIM-MS) were reduced by 50-60% 2 days after soil application. A further 15% reduction occurred by the seventh day after treatment. ABA level analyses began at the time of treatment with 4-day-old seedlings and continued until 21 days after treatment when only a 20% reduction was detected. These determinations using GC-SIM-MS should increase the understanding of triazole effects on ABA levels.Paclobutrazol (PP 333) is one of a group of triazole fungicides, which have been under intensive investigation as crop plant growth regulators . The principal plant response reported has been the inhibition of internode growth of plants as seen in cereal grains due to a reduction of gibberellic acid biosynthesis (Dalziel and Laurence 1984, Hedden andGraebe 1985). Recently, however, the levels of cis-abscisic acid (ABA), another plant hormone, were found to be affected by triazole applications to plants. Results have been reported that include increases in ABA levels (Lurssen 1987), a transient rise in ABA levels (Asare-Boamah et al. 1986), no change (Izumi et al. 1988), and decreases in ABA levels (Grossman et al. 1987, Wang et al. 1987. The measurements of ABA levels were reported on different species of plants and at different plant growth stages after treatment. Little information has been reported concerning ABA levels in triazole-treated plants over a period of time other than the effect of triadimefon on beans for 8 days (Asare-Boamah et al. 1986).Since the growth-retarding effects of triazoles on cereal grains are seen within 1 week after treatment, this study was done to determine whether ABA levels in young wheat seedlings might also be affected during the early periods of growth. An examination of the relationship between growth retardation and ABA levels should provide further information on the importance of time of measurement after treatment or plant species studied in understanding the effect of triazole treatment on ABA levels.
Materials and MethodsWheat seeds (Triticum aestivum L.), "Purple Straw" (5 g), were sown in soil, and seedlings were treated 4 days later by soil application with paclobutrazol formulations: Rl = 0.3 mg/pot and R2 = 3.0 mg/pot (11 cm diameter). Each treatment was replicated three times. The plants were grown in a greenhouse during the month of May and watered uniformly as needed. Whole plant samples were taken at 0, 2, 5, 7, 9, 14, and 21 days after treatment. Plant heights (tip of the most expanded leaf) were measured for each of the 10 plants randomly selected per replicate at each sampling date. Top fresh weights for 30 plants were obtained after the plants we...