Mimicking natural phytohormones. 26-Hydroxycholestan-22-one derivatives as plant growth promoters.

26-Hydroxycholestan-22-one derivatives with oxygenated functions in the rings A and/or B were successfully synthesized from diosgenin. After the modifications of rings A and B, the spiroketal side chain was selectively opened through a Lewis acid mediated acetolysis to afford the cholestane derivatives. These compounds incorporate pharmacophores, which mimic the activity of natural phytohormones and show high growth promoting activity in Mexican rice cultivars using the rice lamina inclination test.

22-Oxocholestanes as plant growth promoters.

The spirostanic steroidal side-chain of diosgenin and hecogenin was modified to produce 22-oxocholestane derivatives. This type of side-chain was obtained in good yields through a straightforward four-step pathway. These compounds show potent brassinosteroid-like growth promoting activity evaluated via the rice lamina joint inclination bioassay. This is the first report of steroidal skeletons bearing the 22-oxocholestane side-chain and preserving the basic structure (A-D rings) from their corresponding parent compounds acting as plant growth promoters.

(25R)-6α-Hy-droxy-5α-spiro-stan-3ß-yl tosyl-ate.

The title steroid, C34H50O6S, is an inter-mediate on the synthetic route between diosgenin and brassinosteroids, which possess the A ring modified with the 2α,3α-diol functionality. The polycyclic spiro-stan system has the expected conformation, with six-membered rings adopting chair forms and the five-membered rings envelope forms (flap atoms are the methine C atom in the C/D-ring junction and the spiro C atom connecting rings E and F). The 3ß-tosyl-ate group is oriented in such a way that S=O bonds are engaged in inter-molecular hydrogen bonds with O-H and C-H donors. Chains of mol-ecules are formed along [100] via O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and secondary weak C-H⋯O inter-actions connect two neighbouring chains in the [001] direction.

The genetics and genomics of the drought response in Populus.

The genetic nature of tree adaptation to drought stress was examined by utilizing variation in the drought response of a full-sib second generation (F(2)) mapping population from a cross between Populus trichocarpa (93-968) and P. deltoides Bart (ILL-129) and known to be highly divergent for a vast range of phenotypic traits. We combined phenotyping, quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis and microarray experiments to demonstrate that 'genetical genomics' can be used to provide information on adaptation at the species level. The grandparents and F(2) population were subjected to soil drying, and contrasting responses to drought across genotypes, including leaf coloration, expansion and abscission, were observed, and QTL for these traits mapped. A subset of extreme genotypes exhibiting extreme sensitivity and insensitivity to drought on the basis of leaf abscission were defined, and microarray experiments conducted on these genotypes and the grandparent species. The extreme genotype groups induced a different set of genes: 215 and 125 genes differed in their expression response between groups in control and drought, respectively, suggesting species adaptation at the gene expression level. Co-location of differentially expressed genes with drought-specific and drought-responsive QTLs was examined, and these may represent candidate genes contributing to the variation in drought response.