Hydrogen peroxide modulates abscisic acid signaling in root growth and development in Arabidopsis

Exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) can inhibit root growth and promote formation of more root hairs in the root tip of Arabidopsis. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie root ABA signaling are largely unknown. We report here that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reduces the root growth of wild type, and the phenotype of H2O2 on the root growth is similar to ABA response. Meanwhile ABA-induced changes in the morphology of root system can be partly reversed by ascorbic acid in wild type and abolished in NADPH oxidase defective mutant atrbohF and atrbohC. Further, ABA can induce H2O2 accumulation in the root cells and enhance transcription level of OXl1, which is necessary for many more AOS-dependent processes such as root hair growth in Arabidopsis. Our results suggest that H2O2 as an important signal molecule is required for the ABA-regulated root growth and development in Arabidopsis.