Effects of Cytokinins on the Nucleic Acids of Tobacco Pith

Cylinders of pith of Nicotiana tabacum var. Wis. 38 were asepticallyisolated and grown on a mineral-sucrose medium in the presenceand absence of either kinetin or zeatin. On medium containing kinetin (5x10⁶M) the increase in the residualdry weight of cylinders was greater than that on control mediumafter 2 d culture and this was maintained at 5 d. At 2, 5, and7 d there were increments in the DNA and RNA levels of cylindersdue to kinetin treatment and these increased progressively. A double-labelling method coupled with acrylamide gel electrophoresiswas used to study the effects of kinetin at 5 x 10^–6Mand zeatin at 10^–6 M on the incorporation of radioactiveprecursors into the RNA of cylinders given a 4-h label pulse.No effects of zeatin were observed after 1 d nor of kinetinat 2 d but after 4 d zeatin stimulated incorporation into ribosomal,transfer and poly-disperse RNA and kinetin did likewise after5 d. Incorporation measured at 7 d was reduced in cylindersfrom which kinetin had been removed at 5 d compared to thoseto which it had been supplied continuously. Scans at 260 run of the electrophoretic fractionations of RNAafter 2, 5, 7, and 9 d of culture showed that both in the absenceand in the presence of kinetin the proportion of 4S RNA increasedfrom about 20 per cent to over 50 per cent of the total between2 and 5 d of culture and after 5 d the ribosomal RNA gave aberrantscans apparently indicative of degradation. These aberrant scanspersisted in RNA extracted after 27 d culture in both the presenceand absence of kinetin.