Abscisic acid and the response of the roots of Zea mays L. seedlings to gravity.

Exogeneous application of abscisic acid (ABA) to intact roots of LG 11 maize seedlings inhibits root elongation and induces bending of the root in response to gravity in darkness, even though the roots of these seedlings are not normally positively geotropic in the dark. ABA cannot, however, induce geotropic curvature in dark-exposed decapped roots, thus confirming that the root cap is the site of graviperception in the intact root.