Effect of abscisic acid on maize root gravireaction

Primary roots of intact maize seedlings (cv. LG11) were pretreated when kept vertically (1 or 2 in the dark) with a droplet of buffer solution containing ABA (at different concentrations) applied to the root tip. Then, apical root segments were prepared and placed horizontally in both light and darkness. The downward curvature was measured. In the light, curvature was greater than in darkness and ABA (5×10−5 mol·dm−3) significantly enhanced the curvature in both darkness and light. The amplitude of the increase in the gravireaction was found to be dependent on the ABA concentration and the duration of the pretreatment.