Changes in Endogenous Growth Regulators in the Gladiolus Corm during Dormancy

Changes in endogenous growth regulators in gladiolus corms during dormancy were studied using paper and column chromatography followed by a bioassay with the test for straight growth of Avena coleoptile. Corms were grown in the field or in a glass room of a phytotron at 20°C in the light. Another lot was grown in a dark room at 20°C in the dark. Half of the daughter corms in each lot were cold-treated for about one month and the other half were stored at room temperature after harvest. The earliest sprouting was seen in dark grown corms with cold treatment, and the latest sprouting in light grown corms without cold. This pattern was similar in each cultivar over a period of three years. Corms from both lots contained considerable amounts of inhibiting substance just after harvest. However, dark grown corms treated with cold showed a rapid decrease in inhibitor activity and an increase in promoter activity. On the other hand, in light grown corms without cold treatment there was inhibitor activity found consistently even after two months. —There appear to be two inhibiting zones in the chromato-grams. One of these contains two inhibitory substances, one of which was assumed to be abscisic acid.     

Alterations in Endogenous Levels of Gibberellin-like Substances during Germination of Phaseolus vulgaris Seeds

The endogenous gibberellin-like substances were determined in mature dry and germinating bean seeds, Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Alabaster. Methanol extracts were partitioned against ethyl acetate and butanol at neutral and acid pH. Each phase was individually chromatographed on a silica gel column. The gibberellin activity was measured with the Tan-ginbozu dwarf rice micro-drop bioassay. Each extract was tested in two dilutions. Extracts from dry seeds showed the highest gibberellin activity, largely attributable to ethyl acetate-soluble substances. The activity was considerably reduced in extracts from seeds imbibed for 1 day. Gibberellin-like substances soluble in butanol appeared in extracts from seeds soaked for 1 or more days.     

Changes in the Levels of Endogenous Growth Regulators during Development of the Flowers of Chrysanthemum morifolium

Gibberellin-like substances and an auxin similar to IAA weredetected by bioassays in extracts of flowers of Chrysanthemummorifolium. The activity of these substances was shown to reacha maximum early in the development of the flower when its relativegrowth-rate was at a maximum, and then to decline with the relativegrowth-rate. The leaves of lateral flowering shoots were found to containgibberellins similar to those detected in the flowers whilea different gibberellin, which appeared to decrease in activitywith the age of the shoot, was detected in the stem. An auxinsimilar to indol-3yl-acetic acid (IAA) was also detected inthese stems. Growth-promoting substances were not detected inthe old stems and leaves from the main shoot. Gas-liquid chromatographyrevealed the presence of a number of additional gibberellinsin the flowers. The chemical nature of the growth substances is discussed inrelation to their biological and chromatographic behaviour.     

Changes in the Endogenous Growth Regulators in Bulbous Iris in Bulb-forming and Nonbulb-forming Aspects

Bulblets of 3–4 g of Dutch iris (Iris hollandica) cv.Dominator stored at 20°C and then grown at 15°C developedonly three or four leaves and bulbs formed at the base of eachleaf, whereas when grown at 25°C, they continued to growvegetatively with the development of 10 true leaves and didnot form any new bulb. This demonstrated that bulb formationin bulbous plants can be controlled by environmental factors.The levels of both abscisic acid and auxin activities increasedduring growth under the bulb-forming condition whereas onlyauxin activity increased under the nonbulb-forming condition.The coexistence of both abscisic acid and auxin seems to beessential in the processes of bulb formation. (Received August 22, 1980; Accepted November 26, 1980)     

Plant Growth Regulators in Citriculture: Factors Regulating Endogenous Levels in Citrus Tissues

Since the review on endogenous growth substances of citrus tissues by Goldschmidt in 1976 (HortScience, 11: 95-99), much information regarding this topic has been published in a wide array of journals. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of published information on endogenous levels of the five classes of plant growth substances (i.e., auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene, and abscisic acid), plus polyamines and other endogenous substances that appear to have a role in regulating citrus growth and development. It is the first in a three-part series that next examines hormonal regulation of physiological processes in citrus followed by review of current uses and commercial applications of plant growth regulators in citrus production. In this article, a brief history of the detection and characterization of each class of plant growth substances is given. Following this, variation in endogenous levels associated with different organs (and/or tissues), stages of development, species, cultivars, cultural practices, and environmental factors is reviewed. For each class, current knowledge regarding biosynthesis, metabolism and transport in citrus tissues is summarized. The concluding section deals with future research directions.     

Photoperiod and Temperature Interactions in Growth and Flowering of Strawberry

Growth and flowering of strawberry cultivars were studied in controlled environments. Early cultivars adapted to marginal growing areas in Scandinavia initiated flower buds in all photoperiods including continuous light at temperatures of 12 and 18°C. At 24°C they remained vegetative in photoperiods above 14 or 16 h. The later cultivars ‘Senga Sengana’ and ‘Abundance’ did not initiate flower buds in 24-h photoperiods at any of these temperatures. Their critical photoperiod changed from above 16 h at 12°C to about 14 and 13 h at 18 and 24°C, respectively. It is concluded that at high latitudes temperature is as important as photoperiod in controlling flowering in the strawberry. Stolon formation, petiole elongation, and leaf area growth were stimulated by high temperature and long days, usually with optima at 16 h and 18°C for petiole elongation and 16 h and 24°C for stolon formation. Although growth and flowering responses in general were opposite, the results indicate that they are to some extent independent. The photoperiodic growth responses were mainly of morphogenetic nature. Dry weight of stem and leaves was little influenced by photoperiod when the irradiance was kept constant.     

Temperature and Photoperiod Interactions with Phosphorus-Limited Growth and Competition of Two Diatoms

In lakes, trophic change and climate change shift the relationship between nutrients and physical factors, like temperature and photoperiod, and interactions between these factors should affect the growth of phytoplankton species differently. We therefore determined the relationship between P-limited specific growth rates and P-quota (biovolume basis) of Stephanodiscus minutulus and Nitzschia acicularis (diatoms) at or near light saturation in axenic, semi-continuous culture at 10, 15 and 20 °C and at 6, 9 and 12 h d⁻¹ photoperiod. Photoperiod treatments were performed at constant daily light exposure to allow comparison. Under these conditions, we also performed competition experiments and estimated relative P-uptake rates of the species. Temperature strongly affected P-limited growth rates and relative P uptake rates, whereas photoperiod only affected maximum growth rates. S. minutulus used internal P more efficiently than N. acicularis. N. acicularis was the superior competitor for P due to a higher relative uptake rate and its superiority increased with increasing temperature and photoperiod. S. minutulus conformed to the Droop relationship but N. acicularis did not. A model with a temperature-dependent normalised half-saturation coefficient adequately described the factor interactions of both species. The temperature dependence of the quota model reflected each species’ specific adaptation to its ecological niche. The results demonstrate that increases in temperature or photoperiod can partially compensate for a decrease in P-quota under moderately limiting conditions, like during spring in temperate lakes. Thus warming may counteract de-eutrophication to some degree and a relative shift in growth factors can influence the phytoplankton species composition.     

The Gibberellin-like Substances and Growth Inhibitors in Developing Strawberry Leaves

Gibberellin-like substances and inhibitors present in extractsof runner buds, and unfolding and mature leaves of strawberryhave been fractionated and compared. The runner-bud water-solubleresidue was more strongly inhibitory than that from unfoldingand mature leaves. The crude acid fraction from unfolding andmature leaves contained appreciable amounts of an inhibitor,probably abscisic acid, which was not detected in the buds.The unfolding leaves had a higher concentration of acidic gibberellin-likesubstances than either buds or mature leaves; they also containeda number of neutral gibberellin-like substances. Mature leaveshad a low concentration of gibberellin-like substances, allof which were acidic. A number of these were highly non-polartypes, not found in the buds or unfolding leaves.     

Changes in Endogenous Gibberellin and Auxin Activities during First Internode Elongation in Tulip Flower Stalk

Dark treatment during the most active period of tulip shootgrowth induced rapid elongation of the first internode. Endogenousfree-form gibberellin and diffusible auxin in the first internodeincreased while bound-form gibberellin decreased after the darktreatment. Alternating dark and light treatments at 24-h intervalscaused increases in elongation of the first internode and theamounts of free-form gibberellin and diffusible auxin in thedark but their decreases in the light. TIBA treatment at thefirst node inhibited both the elongation and the increase indiffusible auxin, but did not affect the gibberellin amount.Ancymidol application prior to the dark treatment inhibitedthe increase in both free-form gibberellin and diffusible auxin.Application of gibberellin A₃ increased both elongation of thefirst internode and the amount of diffusible auxin. It alsocaused recovery from ancymidol-mediated reduction in elongationand diffusible auxin content. Dark-induced elongation of thefirst internode was inhibited when all organs above the firstinternode were excised, but endogenous free-form gibberellinincreased and bound-form gibberellin decreased. After excision,elongation of the first internode occurred only when both GA₃and IAA were applied exogenously, or when IAA was applied withdark treatment. These results indicate that dark-induced elongationof the first internode of tulip is promoted by auxin, whichis transported from the upper organs into the first internodedue to stimulation from the dark-induced increase in free-formgibberellin. Free- and bound-form gibberellins changed complementarilywith the dark and light treatments. An interconversion systembetween the two forms in the first internode and its dependenceon light conditions are also discussed. (Received June 23, 1984; Accepted March 5, 1985)     

Regulation of Androgen Receptor Activity by Transient Interactions of Its Transactivation Domain with General Transcription Regulators

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Xyloglucan Endotransglycosylase Activity in Carrot Cell Suspensions during cell Elongation and Somatic Embryogenesis

Xyloglucan endotransglycosylase (XET) has been proposed to contribute to cell elongation through wall loosening. To explore this relationship further, we assayed this enzyme activity in suspensions of carrot (Daucus carota L.) cells exhibiting various rates of cell elongation. In one cell line, elongation was induced by dilution into dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-free medium. During this elongation, 93% of the XET activity was found in the culture medium; in nonelongating controls, by contrast, 68% was found in the cell extracts even though the specific activity of these extracts was lower than in the elongating cells. By far the highest rates of XET secretion per cell were in the elongating cells. A second cell line was induced to undergo somatic embryogenesis by dilution into 2,4-D-free medium. During the first 6 d, numerous globular embryoids composed of small, isodiametric cells were formed in the absence of cell elongation; extracellular XET activity was almost undetectable, and intracellular specific activity markedly declined. After 6 d, heart, torpedo, and cotyledonary embryoids began to appear (i.e. cell elongation resumed); the intracellular specific activity of XET rose rapidly and >80% of the XET activity accumulated in the medium. Thus, nonexpanding cell suspensions (whether or not they were rapidly dividing) produced and secreted less XET activity than did expanding cells. We propose that a XET molecule has an ephemeral wall-loosening role while it passes through the load-bearing layer of the wall on its way from the protoplast into the culture medium.     

An Analysis of Growth Regulator Interactions and Gene Expression during Auxin-Induced Cell Elongation Using Cloned Complementary DNAs to Auxin-Responsive Messenger RNAs

We have examined the effects of cytokinin, fusicoccin, and ethylene on auxin-induced changes in gene expression during auxin-promoted cell elongation in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv Wayne) using cloned cDNAs to two auxin-responsive mRNAs (Walker, Key 1982 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79: 7185-7989). RNA blot analyses demonstrate that under conditions of cytokinin inhibition of auxin-promoted cell elongation the levels of these two auxin-responsive mRNAs is unaltered. Fusicoccin-promoted elongation is not associated with an enhanced expression of these two mRNAs, suggesting that the increased levels of these mRNAs observed during auxin-promoted cell elongation are not simply due to enhanced rates of cell elongation. We have also determined that ethylene plays no apparent role in the regulation of expression of these mRNAs. However, the auxins indole-3-acetic acid, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and α-naphthalene acetic acid all enhance an accumulation of these mRNAs. We conclude that the regulation of these mRNAs is directly dependent on auxin. That auxin-promoted cell elongation is dependent upon the increased accumulation of these mRNAs remains to be determined.     

Development of Sulfate Uptake Capacity and ATP-Sulfurylase Activity during Root Elongation in Maize

Sulfate uptake capacity and ATP-sulfurylase activity were determined in maize roots (Zea mays L. var. XL 363 and mutant XL 363 o2) at increasing root length. The pattern of uptake showed a close similarity to that of ATP-sulfurylase, both activities reaching the maximum level at 9 and 10 cm root length in the XL 363 and XL 363 o2 hybrids, respectively. In addition to the shift of the maximum, opaque-2 mutation caused an enhancement of the two activities at root length below and above the activity peak. The kinetic parameter of uptake, Km, showed a maximum at 3 to 4 and a minimum at 7 to 8 cm. The isoenzyme pattern of ATP-sulfurylase was the same in the two hybrids and did not change with root elongation. A common regulatory mechanism is postulated for uptake and activation of sulfate. The kinetic behavior is interpreted as an index of flexibility of the transport system toward different nutrient status of the environment.     

Temperature Regulation of Endogenous Gibberellin Activity and Development of Tulipa gesneriana L

The changes in the contents of free and bound gibberellin-like activity (GA) of Tulipa gesneriana L. cv. Ralph during development under 2 temperature conditions were studied. The results show that the content of free GA of bulbs grown at 18° increased by 67% over the initial level during development. The bound GA showed a slight initial increase and was followed by a rapid decrease. In contrast, bulbs treated at 13° showed a marked decline in free GA and a 2-fold increase in the content of bound GA. However, after the transfer of these bulbs from 13° to 18° the free GA increased to the initial level while the bound GA decreased to a low level.     

植物体细胞胚发生中ATP酶活性时空分布动态与内源激素的变化

本文以我们的研究结果为基础,并结合国内外近几年有关研究报道,对植物体细胞胚发生中的超策结构和ATP酶活性时空分布动脉及内源激素的变化和作用进行专题评述。（1）超微结构的变化：当植物体细胞一量转化为胚性细胞后,各种细胞器相继增加,不仅丰富而且活跃,特别是线粒体内发达,有的正处于分裂状态;核糖体聚集成多聚核糖体;质体中含大量淀粉粒,接着出现高尔基体等。早期胚性细胞与周围细胞还存在胞间连丝,随着胚性细胞壁的加厚,胞间连丝也随之消失。（2）ATP酶时空分布动态：早期的胚性细胞中ATP酶反应产物主要沉积于质和液泡上,后期ATP酶活性转入细胞内,液泡和细胞核中,而且在胚性细胞壁加厚处有活跃的A5P酶活性反应,并证明ATP酶活性是在胚性细胞发生过程中形成的。（3）内源激素的变化与作用：在体细胞胚诱导过程中内源激素起着关键性作用,内源生长素含量的提高为胚性细胞的诱导奠定了基础,细胞分裂素含量的增加可促进胚性细胞的分裂和增殖,ABA不仅提高了体细胞胚的诱导频率,而且促进了体细胞胚的正常发育。     

Effects of Plant Growth Regulators on Seed Filling,Endogenous Hormone Contents and Maize Production in Semiarid Regions

In this study, we determined whether the application of uniconazole alone or combined with ethephon could enhance the seed-filling rates in maize by regulating the endogenous hormone contents. Uniconazole was applied to the foliage at concentrations of 0 (CK), 25 (U₂₅), 50 (U₅₀) and 75 (U₇₅) mg L⁻¹ at the 12-leaf stage. In addition, uniconazole was applied to the foliage at the 12-leaf stage and ethephon at 10 days after silking stage at concentrations of 0 (CK), 25 mg L⁻¹ uniconazole + 100 mg L⁻¹ ethephon (U₂₅ + E₁₀₀), 50 mg L⁻¹ uniconazole + 200 mg L⁻¹ ethephon (U₅₀ + E₂₀₀) and 75 mg L⁻¹ uniconazole + 300 mg L⁻¹ ethephon (U₇₅ + E₃₀₀). Uniconazole applied alone or in combination with ethephon significantly improved ear characters and grain yield. Uniconazole applied alone or combination with ethephon significantly improved the dry matter accumulation in seeds and seed-filling rates. Uniconazole significantly increased the abscisic acid (ABA) and zeatin (Z) + zeatin riboside (ZR) contents of seeds, but reduced the gibberellic acid (GA) contents. The application of uniconazole combined with ethephon decreased the ABA, Z + ZR and GA contents in seeds. The ABA and Z + ZR contents were significantly positively correlated, whereas the GA content was negatively correlated with the maximum seed weight, maximum seed-filling rate and mean seed-filling rate. The application of uniconazole alone significantly improved the seed-filling rates in maize by regulating the endogenous hormone contents. Thus, we conclude that uniconazole application at 50 mg L⁻¹ in the 12-leaf stage can enhance the maize production.