Effect on the Progeny of Applying Different Day Length and Hormone Treatments to Parent Plants of Lactuca scariola

Seedlings of the self-fertilizing species Lactuca scariola L. grown continuously in 8 h days did not flower even one year from sowing. Seedlings grown in 16 h days uatil flower buds appeared 96 days after germination were either transferred to 8 h days or treated weekly with gibberellic acid (GA₃), abscisic acid (ABA) or chlormequat (CCC) and retained, together with untreated control plants, in 16 h days. Each growth regulator caused characteristic morphological changes in the treated plants. All these plants flowered and produced seeds but the seeds showed distinct differences in weight, in their time to germination and in the seedlings which they produced. Germination and seedling characters depended on the light regime during germination as well as on the chemical applied to the parent plant and the rate of application. The parental treatment also affected the shape and size of the seedlings on a given day after germination, and certain treatments of the parent plant (transfer from long to short days and treatment with CCC in long days) advanced the flowering date of the seedlings. The gibberellin level in the seeds was raised, in increasing order, by treatment of the parent plant with 100 mg/1 GA₃, transfer from long to short days, 10 mg/1 GA₃, and 5000 mg/l CCC. It is suggested that the effect of day length on plant performance is mediated by the level of growth regelating substances within the plant and that the behaviour of seeds can be modified by the parental environment via the accumulation of different levels of certain growth factors in the seeds. A rise of one growth substance in the parent plant can result in the accumulation of a different one in the seeds.