ABSTRACT
An in vitro method was developed for microshoot initiation from thin-layer explants prepared from the elongated epicotyls of sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.). Intact epicotyls of 14-day-old seedlings were excised from the hypocotyls above the cotyledons and allowed to elongate on De Greef and Jacobs (1979) medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/l 6-benzyladenine, 0.2 mg/l gibberellic acid and 0.1 mg/l indole-3-acetic acid in darkness. After a 21-day-incubation, the elongated epicotyls were halved to obtain apical and basal segments prior to removing the leaves and lateral buds. Subsequently, 5-8 mm long, 2-3 mm wide and 0.8-1.0 mm thick tangential sections were prepared longitudinally from the exterior parts of the halved epicotyls. These thin-layer explants were incubated on microshoot initiating media containing various growth regulators. The combination of 1.0 mg/l 6-benzyladenine and the antiauxin 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (1.0 mg/l) resulted in maximum microshoot development (6.3±0.2 microshoots/thin-layer explant). The final efficiency of our tissue culture system was significantly increased by the NaCl (100 mg/l) initiated in vitro rooting of microshoot originated plantlets.
ABSTRACT
Chlorophyll-sensitized photooxidation of indoleacetic acid (IAA)-with chlorophyll extracted from Pisum sativum L. cv. Alaska W.R.-was determined in the presence of deuterium oxide and known quenchers of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) to explore the involvement of (1)O(2) in the reaction. O(2) uptake was measured in light in a buffered aqueous micellar system containing Triton X-100, KCl, chlorophyll, and IAA. The rate of O(2) uptake was zero in darkness. The reaction was stimulated by deuterium oxide and inhibited by sodium azide indicating that (1)O(2) participated in IAA photooxidation. Both mannitol and superoxide dismutase failed to inhibit O(2) uptake suggesting that neither the hydroxyl radical nor the superoxide anion played a significant role in the reaction.
ABSTRACT
When fully filled pods of bean plants were deseeded, the rate of axillary bud growth and the chlorophyll content of leaves were increased. Application of 0.1% indoleacetic acid (IAA) in lanolin on the deseeded pods caused abscission of axillary buds, inhibited growth of the remaining buds, and decreased leaf chlorophyll content. The response of bud development to fruit-applied IAA was concentration dependent between 0.001 and 0.1% IAA (representing from 2 to 200 micrograms IAA per fruit) resulting in greater growth inhibition at higher IAA concentrations.When plants were defruited so that the number of fruits per plant was adjusted to 0, 6, 12, or 18, a dosage effect of fruits on photosynthesis was observed. Removal of all fruits caused a rise in the CO(2)-exchange rate (CER). With increasing fruit dosage, plants showed leaf senescence of increasing intensity and a corresponding decline in CER. In contrast to the effect of fruit-applied IAA on leaves and buds, it delayed the senescence of treated fruits. When axillary buds were treated directly with aqueous solutions of IAA, no growth inhibition occurred.Abscisic acid (AbA) applied on deseeded pods, up to a concentration of 0.1% AbA in lanolin, failed to inhibit axillary bud development or to cause leaf senescence.The results support the hypothesis that the correlative control of axillary bud development and leaf senescence by fruits involves the participation of both IAA and AbA. IAA, released by the seeds, may play the role of the correlative signal that moves from the fruit to the target organ, where it stimulates the synthesis or accumulation of AbA. AbA, in turn, may be responsible for the inhibition of axillary bud development and the enhancement of leaf senescence.
ABSTRACT
The mechanism regulating the growth of adult plants in two determinate bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars was investigated. "Redkloud" plants flowered, formed fruits, and ceased shoot growth earlier than "Redkote" plants. Redkloud attained a smaller plant size, compared to Redkote, by imposing dormancy on axillary buds at an earlier age. In both cultivars, cessation of bud growth coincided with maximum combined fruit length per plant. Removal of fruits caused resumption of axillary bud growth within 4 to 5 days. The amount of new growth induced by fruit removal depended on the cultivar and plant age. In fully developed Redkloud plants, where shoot growth had already ceased, total leaf and shoot number per plant nearly doubled within 2 weeks following fruit removal. A much smaller response was observed in the still growing Redkote plants. Fruits, therefore, are assumed to play a major role in the regulation of shoot growth and total plant size through the control of axillary bud dormancy. It seems that smaller plant size, earlier maturity, and earlier senescence of Redkloud, compared to Redkote, were the result of earlier flowering, and accomplished in part through the growth-inhibiting action of fruits.The endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) concentration of axillary buds was higher in Redkloud than in Redkote. It increased with plant age in both cultivars. Five days after fruit removal the ABA level in bud tissue dropped to approximately 10 to 30% of the control level. When buds were treated with a solution of ABA containing 5 nanomoles of ABA per bud, growth was substantially inhibited. Fifteen days after ABA application the mean length of growing buds on intact and defruited plants was reduced by 40 and 62%, respectively, compared to the untreated controls. A role for ABA in axillary bud growth regulation was not firmly established, but these data suggest correlation between the growth potential of axillary buds and their ABA concentration.
ABSTRACT
In two cultivars of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Redkloud and Redkote) the older fruits growing at the base of racemes aborted less frequently than the younger ones above them. When older fruits at the base of racemes were removed, the abortion rate of the younger ones was reduced and their abscisic acid (ABA) concentration was lowered. Thirteen days after fruit removal, 36 to 45% of the younger fruits remained viable on treated plants while less than 12% of the younger fruits were viable on control plants. On these intact controls the ABA concentration of young fruits was at least twice that of defruited plants. A similar difference was found when the ABA content was expressed on a per fruit basis, suggesting a direct regulatory influence of older fruits over the ABA content of younger fruits.