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Hypocotyl elongation is dramatically influenced by environmental factors and phytohormones. Indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA) plays a prominent role in hypocotyl elongation, whereas abscisic acid (ABA) is regarded as an inhibitor through repressing IAA synthesis and signalling. However, the regulatory role of ABA in local IAA deactivation remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we confirmed the antagonistic interplay of ABA and IAA during the hypocotyl elongation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings. We identified an IAA oxidase enzyme DIOXYGENASE FOR AUXIN OXIDATION2 (SlDAO2), and its expression was induced by both external and internal ABA signals in tomato hypocotyls. Moreover, the overexpression of SlDAO2 led to a reduced sensitivity to IAA, and the knockout of SlDAO2 alleviated the inhibitory effect of ABA on hypocotyl elongation. Furthermore, an ABA‐responsive regulatory SlAREB1/SlABI3‐1/SlABI5 cascade was identified to act upstream of SlDAO2 and to precisely control its expression. SlAREB1 directly bound to the ABRE present in the SlDAO2 promoter to activate SlDAO2 expression, and SlABI3‐1 enhanced while SlABI5 inhibited the activation ability of SlAREB1 by directly interacting with SlAREB1. Our findings revealed that ABA might induce local IAA oxidation and deactivation via SlDAO2 to modulate IAA homoeostasis and thereby repress hypocotyl elongation in tomato. Summary statement: We found that ABA regulates expression of IAA oxidase gene SlDAO2 via the AREB1/ABI3‐1/ABI5 transcription factor cascade, and thereby modulating IAA homeostasis and inhibiting hypocotyl elongation in tomato seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the roles of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in low temperature tolerance in cucumber seedlings, a specific PAL inhibitor (AOPP) was sprayed to the seedlings, and then the stress tolerance was determined. The results suggested that both gene expression and enzymatic activity of PAL in cucumber leaves were induced under low temperature. The seedlings pretreated with AOPP showed lower PAL activity and less accumulation of phenolics and flavonoids. Low temperature caused damages in cucumber seedlings, and pretreatment of AOPP aggravated these damages. Compared to the control, the seedlings pretreated with AOPP showed significantly higher relative electrolyte leakage and MDA production, lower maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) but higher photo-chemical quenching coefficient Y(NO), and reduced expression of low temperature-responsive genes (PR1-1α, COR47, P5CS and HSP70). In cucumber seedlings, low temperature stress induced the accumulation of H2O2, increased the contents of ascobate (AsA) but decreased the contents of dehydroascobate (DHA), and thus reduced the value of AsA:DHA. In the AOPP-pretreated seedlings, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and APX) were significantly repressed, and excess H2O2 accumulated. The value of AsA:DHA was also lower than the control. Furthermore, co-application of H2O2 scavenger alleviated the low temperature-induced damages in the AOPP-pretreated seedlings, while co-application of a CAT inhibitor made the seedlings more sensitive to low temperature stress. These results indicated that under low temperature stress, the enhanced activities of PAL could increase the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid compounds and activate the cellular antioxidant enzymes, which could scavenge the excess ROS and maintain the cellular redox status, and thereby reduce the photo- and oxidative damages caused by low temperature stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To approach the related mechanisms of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) in improving plant drought-resistance, this paper studied the effects of applying exogenous SA to the rhizosphere on the plant growth, membrane lipid peroxidation, proline accumulation, water use efficiency, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedlings under drought stresses (60% and 50% of saturated water capacity). Applying SA relieved the inhibitory effects of drought stress on plant growth, Pn, and water use efficiency, decreased membrane lipid peroxidation, and promoted proline accumulation. Meanwhile, the SA decreased the decrements of the maximum photochemical efficiency of PS II, actual photochemical efficiency of PS II, potential activity of PS II, effective photochemical efficiency of PS II, and photochemical quenching coefficient under drought stress significantly, and limited the increase of non-photochemical quenching coefficient. All the results suggested that applying exogenous SA could alleviate the oxidation damage of cell membrane resulted from the drought-caused membrane lipid peroxidation, improve the Pn by increasing PS II activity to benefit water utilization, enhance the regulation capability of osmosis to decrease water loss and increase water use efficiency, and thereby, improve the plant drought-resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the conditions of root substrate injection and foliar spray of different concentration spermidine, this paper measured the disease index, defense enzyme activities, and contents of disease resistance-related substances in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings infected by Botrytis cinerea Pers., aimed to investigate the roles of spermidine in induced resistance of cucumber seedlings to B. cinerea. The results showed that after treated with spermidine, the disease index decreased by 25.4%, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities increased by 48.4%, 635.9% and 38.9%, respectively, and total polyphenol, flavonoid and lignin contents increased significantly, compared with the control. All of these suggested that spermidine could induce the disease resistance of cucumber seedlings, and its optimum concentration was 150 mg L(-1).