A comparison of gibberellin-like substances in germinating cotyledons of tall and dwarf varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Amounts of gibberellin-like substances (gibb.) in seed cotyledonsof tall and dwarf varieties of kidney bean were compared throughfractionation with various solvents. Cotyledons of tall varietiescontained greater amounts of gibb. in all fractions than didthose of dwarf varieties. The amounts of gibb. in both varietiesdecreased as seedlings grew, but in the tall variety they decreasedmore rapidly in the acidic ethylacetate and in n-butanol fractions.Growing modes of seedlings may correlate with the activity ofgibb.; especially in the non-acidic ethylacetate fraction, whichis detectable only in the tall variety after germination. (Received November 12, 1969; )