The Effects of Gibberellin on the Metabolism of Ethanol-soluble Constituents in the Cotyledons of Hazel Seeds (Corylus avellana, L.)

Gibberellin pretreatment of hazel seeds induced significantincreases in the incorporation of carbon-14 from 2-¹⁴C] acetateinto both glutamate and sucrose, while the amounts of radioactivityincorporated into citrate, malate and succinate were significantlyhigher after pretreatment with sterile water. A ratio basedon the relative amounts of carbon-14 incorporated into glutamateand into the TCA cycle acids indicates that gibberellin treatmentcauses a diversion of metabolites from the essentially respiratoryTCA cycle into synthetic sequences such as glutamate formation.Gibberellin treatment also appears to stimulate the activityof a reversed glycolytic sequence, resulting in the productionof sucrose.