Immunochemical Approach to the Problem of Differential Determination of Natural Forms of Abscisic Acid

A. N. Blintsov^* and M. A. Gussakovskaya

Department of Plant Physiology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119899, Russia; fax: (7-095) 939-4309; E-mail: radames@mail.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received February 6, 2004; Revision received June 7, 2004

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An original modification of the standard ELISA procedure for differential determination of different forms of abscisic acid (ABA) is proposed. It is shown that endogenous forms of ABA may be quantitatively determined in plant tissues subjected to minimal treatment, without purification of the hormones and their chemical modification. The modification has been approved when analyzing changes in the content of different ABA forms in plant tissues differing in physiological activity. Quantitative differential determination of changes in the content of different ABA forms has been performed in ovaries of Triticum aestivum L. and Taraxacum officinale Web. in the period of activity of the ovule (from the moment of its activation to the beginning of division). It is shown that, despite the different types of reproduction in the species studied (amphimixis and apomixis), the time course of changes in the content of different forms of ABA in ovaries is similar, which is suggestive of a correlation between the activity of endogenous hormonal system and chronology of main events (e.g., the beginning of endospermogenesis) of the reproductive cycle.

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KEY WORDS: ELISA, immunochemical method, endogenous hormones, (+)-2-cis,4-trans-abscisic acid, (±)-2-cis,4-trans-abscisic acid

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