Heat stress (HS) has become one of the major abiotic stresses that severely constrain rice growth. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in plant development and stress response. However, the effect of different concentrations of exogenous ABA on HS tolerance in rice still needs to be further elucidated. Here, we found that high concentrations of exogenous ABA increased HS damage in seedlings, whereas 10-12 M ABA treatment increased fresh and dry weight under HS relative to mock seedlings. Our further data showed that, in response to HS, 10-5 M, ABA-treated seedlings exhibited a lower chlorophyll content, as well as transcript levels of chlorophyll biosynthesis and antioxidant genes, and increased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, the transcript abundance of some heat-, defense-, and ABA-related genes was downregulated on 10-5 M ABA-treated seedlings under HS. In conclusion, high concentrations of exogenous ABA reduced the HS tolerance of rice seedlings, and this negative effect could be achieved by regulating the accumulation of ROS, chlorophyll biosynthesis, and the transcription levels of key genes in seedlings under HS.
Keywords: ABA; heat stress; reactive oxygen species; rice (Oryza sativa L.); seedling.