Abscisic acid response to water status in Dactylis glomerata differs with expression of summer dormancy

Summer dormancy confers superior drought survival in cool‐season perennial grasses and is likely to be of increasing importance as climate change proceeds although relatively little is known about this trait. This paper explores the relationship between the level of abscisic acid (ABA), the expression of summer dormancy and the onset and relief of water deficit in cool‐season perennial grasses. Three cultivars of Dactylis glomerata L. (cocksfoot) known to differ in expression of summer dormancy were grown in the field over summer and in the glasshouse over winter under water deficit or full irrigation. Hydration and osmotic potentials of basal tissues were measured to assess the level of water deficit, and endogenous ABA was determined in the tissues by monoclonal immunoassay analysis. In a winter trial, higher contents of ABA were present when plant water deficits became greater so that there were no differences between the cultivars in the concentrations of ABA observed. In a summer trial a short period of waterlogging caused water status to increase in all cultivars, although in the maritime cultivar Oasis this was also associated with a rise in ABA contents. In contrast, in the summer‐dormant cultivar Kasbah, only low ABA concentrations were observed throughout the entire period whether waterlogged or in drying soil. Heightened ABA levels are not induced by water deficit when summer dormancy is expressed in Dactylis glomerata . This contrasted with those cultivars unable to express summer dormancy where particularly in early summer severe water deficit was associated with heightened ABA levels.