Aminotransferase Activity in Relation to Floral Differentiation in Wheat Plants

The present investigation was carried out to study the transamination reaction in relation to floral differentiation in wheat (cv. NP 876) under three photoperiodic conditions. Three selected aminotransferases namely glutamic-glyoxylate, glutamic-pyruvate, and alanine-glyoxylate were studied in the top young leaves at various growth and developmental stages. The activity of all the three systems increased progressively during the vegetative phase till the plants produced reproductive buds. When flower primordia started differentiating, there was a sharp decrease in the aminotransferase activity followed by an increase during anthesis period. Photoperiodic treatments clearly show that even when the vegetative period of the plant is shortened considerably by long day or extended by short day, the aminotransferase activity remains closely associated with different developmental processes.