The effect of intracellular pH on the regulation of the Rab 16A and the alpha-amylase 1/6-4 promoter by abscisic acid and gibberellia.

Intracellular pH (pHi) of barley aleurone cells is known to be affected by hormones and plant growth conditions. The possible mechanisms by which these pHi shifts influence the actions of abscisic acid (ABA) or gibberellin (GA) is being investigated. Here we report an attempt to study the effect of pHi on hormone-induced gene expression. We used weak acids and weak bases to artificially mimic the pHi changes brought about by ABA and GA and found that chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) expression controlled by the Rab promoter was affected while the alpha-amylase promoter seemed insensitive. CAT fused to the 35S promoter was used as a control which is not inducible by ABA or GA3. The expression of this construct was not significantly affected by artificial pHi changes.