Enhanced inflorescence development in tomato by growth substance treatments in relation to 14C-assimilate distribution |
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Authors: | Maggy Leonard Jean-Marie Kinet Monique Bodson Georges Bernier |
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Institution: | Centre de Physiologie Végétale Appliquée (I.R.S.I.A.), Dép. de Botanique, Univ. de Liège, San Tilman, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. |
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Abstract: | Inflorescence development in tomato plants ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., cv. King Plus) grown under a low-light regime is promoted by exogenous applications of a mixture of N6-benzyladenine (BA) and gibberellins A4+7 (GA) directly on the inflorescence. The photosynthetic rate of the young mature leaf, which feeds the developing inflorescence, and the proportion of 14C-assimilates exported from the source leaf are not affected by the growth substance treatment, but the pattern of 14C-assimilate distribution is altered. Assimilate supply to the treated inflorescence increases concomitantly with a decrease in the 14C import into the apical shoot, reflecting a competition between these two plant parts. The increased assimilate accumulation in the treated inflorescence is apparent 1 day after the first application of BA+GA, and precedes any morphological changes in the reproductive structure. These results are discussed in relation to nutritional hypotheses that regard assimilate supply as limiting for reproductive development. |
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Keywords: | Cytokinins flowering gibberellins |
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