Abscisic acid and the pre-harvest sprouting in cereals

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) leads to loss of grain weight and a reduction in the end use quality of kernels in cereals, especially in wheat, and PHS in rice also becomes a more and more serious problem recent years. Many factors are involved in the controlling this complex trait. Only recently, we have reported the large scale screening and charactersation of the rice phs mutants, providing insight into the molecular mechanism of pre-harvest sprouting in rice. It has been shown that mutations of genes in synthesis of the carotenoid precursors of ABA resulted in the pre-harvest sprouting, which is consequence of ABA deficiency, and photobleaching is likewise due to the absence of photoprotective carotenoids. The further study of all different rice phs mutants will help us to elucidate the complex phenomena and finally capture the target for improving PHS in rice or other cereals.