Abscisic acid(ABA) is a plant growth substance that

Abscisic acid and leaf fall

Abscisic acid(ABA) is a plant growth substance that stimulates the production of ethene. Ethene stimulates the fall of leaves or abscission. The following sequence of events leads to leaf fall:

cells in a layer at the base of the petiole separate from one another by the breakdown of the middle lamellae of their cell walls; a protective layer of cells with wax in their walls forms on each side of this abscission layer to prevent infection and water loss, in woody species this layer is cork with suberised cell walls; the vascular tissue is sealed; the leaf is broken off by a mechanical force such as the wind.

Abscisic acid (ABA) and stomata

ABA can help a plant survive stress when water is in short supply. ABA is released from the chloroplasts of mesophyll cells. When ABA reaches the guard cells of a stoma, they lose their turgidity and the stoma closes. When a guard cell takes up water by osmosis, the thick wall adjacent to the stoma resists stretching and becomes more curved. In this way the pore opens. Uptake of water occurs because the water potential of the cell is lowered by addition of potassium ions (K+). An ATP-dependent proton pump transports H+ ions out of the cell. The reduced H+ concentration inside the cells causes potassium ion channels in the plasma membrane to open and K+ ions move down a diffusion gradient into the cell. Guard cells have ABA receptors in their plasma membranes. Binding ABA with these receptors may inhibit the proton pump. Spraying ABA onto crops as an anti-transpirant is not a commercial proposition as the effects are short-lived. A methyl ester of ABA can be used because it is not readily broken down by plants.