The effects of exogenous phaseic acid (PA) on germination and protein accumulation of cultured immature barley embryos were examined. Chemically synthesized PA was racemic, 87% pure and stable over the course of the experiment. Germination was observable in >90% of the untreated embryos after 3 days of incubation, whereas embryos treated with 10μm abscisic acid (ABA) or PA showed no evidence of germination. Buffer extracts from embryos treated with ABA or PA had similar protein profiles when examined by single and two-dimensional electrophoresis. The profiles differed significantly from those of embryos incubated in the absence of the two compounds. Concentrations of α-amylase inhibitor and barley-germ agglutinin (BGA) increased upon treatment of immature embryos with ABA or PA. This was due to de novo synthesis as there was increased incorporation of radioactivity from 35S-labelled amino acids into the proteins in treated embryos. Endogenous ABA content in PA-treated embryos was not significantly different from that in untreated embryos. An analogue of ABA, 2′, 3′-dihydroabscisic acid, which cannot be metabolized to phaseic acid, inhibited germination and caused increased synthesis of α-amylase inhibitor and germ agglutinin. ABA and PA may both be active in promoting responses associated with ABA in barley embryos, but the embryos are more sensitive to ABA.