A Cytokinin Complex in the Developing Fruits of Lupinus albus

The apices of Lupinus albus L. were analysed for cytokinin activity at three stages of development. Little cytokinin activity could be detected in the apices at the time of flowering. However, a considerable amount of activity was detected as the fruits developed. Separate analyses of seed and pod material indicated that there was a high level of cytokinin in both these parts of the fruit. After fractionation of the peaks of activity obtained from paper chromatograms on Sephadex LH-20, four peaks of cytokinin activity were recorded. Two of these co-eluted with zeatin and zeatin riboside. A third peak at an elution volume of 360–440 ml could be hydrolysed with β-glucosidase to give activity at elution volumes corresponding to those of zeatin and zeatin riboside. This strongly suggested that both glucosylated zeatin and glucosylated zeatin riboside were present in the developing fruits of L. albus. The fourth peak at an elution volume of 160–280 ml did not disappear upon hydrolysis with β-glucosidase, and it is possible that it represented a nucleotide cytokinin.