In vitro morphogenetic responses of Ilex paraguariensis nodal segments treated with different gibberellins and Prohexadione-Ca

One-bud nodal segments of Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) were cultured in vitro in a sugar-rich medium with different gibberellins or an inhibitor of their synthesis. Bud sprouting, shoot length (assessed as shoots of less or more than 5 mm) and bud abscission were evaluated after 45 d of culture in a growth chamber at 27±2 °C, with a 14 h photoperiod of white fluorescent light. There was a differential effect of the two types of gibberellins used; the double bond ring-A gibberellins (GA₃ and GA₇) inhibited shoot length, while the non double bond-ring A gibberellins (GA₁ and GA₄) stimulated shoots with a length of more than 5 mm. Prohexadione-Ca (Bx-112; a late step gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor), at high doses, restrained bud sprouting up to 75%, but lower doses promoted shoot lengthening.