Microshoots of Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki L. cv. Jiro) were rooted in vitro. The roots were excised and cultured on solidified Murashige and Skoog medium. After 20 days of culture, adventitious shoots formed spontaneously and directly from the roots. Of all the tested cytokinins, 10–5 m zeatin in combination with 10–8 m IAA was the most effective in stimulating production of adventitious shoots. CPPU and 2iP also were effective cytokinins. Addition of a high concentration of auxin, especially 2,4-D, to the medium inhibited adventitious shoot formation. The percentage of root segments forming adventitious shoots increased with increasing segment length. Almost all of the longest roots (4 to 6 cm) formed adventitious shoots. Chemical names used: 6-benzyladenine (BA); 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D); indole-3-acetic acid (IAA); 2-isopentenyladenine (2iP); N-phenyl-N′-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)urea (CPPU).
Transgenic plants containing introduced phytohorm one genes have been shown to display altered growth and morphogenetic potential. Peach plants transformed with the ipt gene from Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain tms 328::T n5 and containing elevated levels of cytokinins were screened in vitro for compact growth habit on four different levels of 6-benzyladenine (BA). After nine weeks in vitro, the average number of axillary shoots per plant foe two of the transformants, 99-1 and 40-1, ranged from 1.5 to 6.6 times that for the controls on 0-30 uM of BA, whereas average fresh weight ranged from 1.1 to 3.6 times that for the controls. One of the transformants, 94-1, produced a greater number of axillary shoots only on 30 μM BA. Rooted plants derived through micropropagation from the original transformants were monitored for 30 months under greenhouse conditions. The average height of transformants 94-1 and 99-1 after six months in the greenhouee was 88 and 77% of controls, respectively and after 30 months was 90 and 75% of controls, respectively. In comparison to controls, transformants exhibited a greater number of branches per meter per plant after six weeks, but a lesser number after 30 months. These results suggest that the introduction of a cytokinin gene may be a useful approach to obtaining peach trees with a compact growth habit.
Abstract
Ethanolic extracts of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L. cv. Montmorency) fruit were partitioned into butanol and water-soluble fractions. Following paper chromatography, each fraction was tested for cytokinin activity by the radish cotyledon and soybean callus bioassays. Activity in both fractions increased between 14 and 21 days after anthesis, and remained high at 28 days, although cell division in the pericarp had ceased. One growth promotor in the butanol fraction resembled zeatin in its chromatographic mobility on both paper and Sephadex LH-20, and was identified as zeatin by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of its trimethylated derivative. A water-soluble growth promoter, which exhibited activity in only the radish cotyledon bioassay, was unaffected either by acid or by alkaline phosphatase hydrolysis.
Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] plants #94-1, #99-1, and #40-1, carrying a cytokinin biosynthesis (ipt) gene following transformation with the shooty mutant strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, were evaluated for altered growth habit and axillary shoot formation, both in vitro and in the greenhouse. After 9 weeks of in vitro propagation on four different levels of 6-benzyladenine (BA), only transformant #99-1 exhibited significantly greater axillary shoot formation (on 10 μm BA), and significantly greater fresh mass (on 3,10, and 30 μm BA) than the control #RG-3. Tolerance to a supra-optimal (30 μm) concentration of BA was indicated by fresh mass increases for #99-1 shoot cultures. Delayed senescence on 0 μm BA was exhibited by 87% of the transformants, but by only 12% of the control plants. Greenhouse-grown #99-1 and #40-1 were significantly shorter than #RG-3 plants at 6 weeks and at 1 year, but only #40-1 exhibited significantly greater branching than the controls. Chemical names used: 6-benzyladenine (BA); isopentenyl transferase (ipt).
Meristem culture and/or thermotherapy were used for virus elimination from ornamental Phlox paniculata L. (`Blue Boy', `Orange perfection' and `Starfire') mother plants. Shoot tip, leaf, node and flower ovary explants collected from greenhouse-maintained virus free plants were cultured in vitro for shoot initiation. Adventitious shoot initiation was observed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing the cytokinin BA with or without the auxin NAA. The addition of 0.4 mg·L-1 thiamine, 0.4 mg·L-1 folic acid, and 40 mg·L-1 adenine sulfate to the MS medium did not improve the regeneration rate. Multiplication and rooting were genotype dependent. Blue Boy and Orange Perfection cultivars regenerated the maximum number of shoots from leaf explants. `Blue Boy' leaf explants from in vitro plants had a lower regeneration rate than explants from greenhouse plants. Cultivar `Starfire' had the highest shoot formation with open flower ovary explants and failed to regenerate from leaf explants. In vitro rooting of adventitious shoots in the presence of auxins (IAA, NAA, or IBA) with or without BA was less effective than ex vitro rooting. Chemical names used: 6-benzyladenine (BA); indole-acetic acid (IAA); indole-3-butyric acid (IBA); α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA).
limits root growth and/or cytokinin biosynthesis and consequently the amount of root-produced cytokinin supplied to the scion in the xylem vasculature. In support of this hypothesis, cytokinins were identified in the xylem sap of apple trees ( Jones, 1973
Abstract
Immature embryos were excised during kernel development from fruits of the pecan [Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch] cultivars Desirable and Stuart. The cotyledons were removed and the main embryo axes were used as explants. Explants were cultured in vitro on media containing various levels of cytokinins and auxins. Morphogenesis in ‘Stuart’ preceded that of ‘Desirable’ by 1 to 2 weeks. In both cultivars, the percentage of embryo axes forming shoots only or both shoots and roots increased until ≈4 to 6 weeks before nut maturity, as judged by shuck dehiscence. After this time, developmental responses declined. Production of normal plants was highest on a medium containing IBA, BA, and kinetin at 0.5, 4.4, and 9.3 μM, respectively. Shoots only were obtained on a medium containing cytokinin without auxin and roots only on a medium containing auxin with no cytokinin. Axillary shoots elongated from embryo axes of both cultivars. This response was greatest on a medium containing cytokinin as the only hormone for ‘Desirable’, but with both auxin and cytokinin for ‘Stuart’. Chemical names: indole-3-butyric acid (IBA); N-(phenylmethyl)-1H purin-6-amine (BA); N-(2-furanylmethyl)-1H-purin-6-amine (kinetin).
). Environmentally friendly methods, such as reduced water supply to stock plants, may be an alternative to decrease endogenous pathogens ( Debergh and Maene, 1981 ). Culture media supplemented with cytokinins are crucial for shoot multiplication in aroids
The influence of stage of fruit development and plant growth regulators on somatic embryogenesis and the relation of cultivar response on somatic embryogenesis and subsequent plant development have been investigated in eight cultivars of pecan [Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch]. Explants from the micropylar region of the ovule were more embryogenic when removed from fruits in the liquid endosperm stage than were intact ovules from less-mature fruits or from cotyledonary segments of more-mature fruits. Explants conditioned on medium containing auxin alone or auxin + cytokinin produced more somatic embryos than medium containing cytokinin alone. Under the conditions of this study, frequency of embryogenesis, as well as the germination of somatic embryos leading to plant development, indicated appreciable variation among cultivars. Plant development was greatest by far from somatic embryos of `Schley' than other cultivars studied.
Abstract
Changes in gibberellin and cytokinin activities were investigated at the stages of leaf differentiation, mature green leaves, early flower bud formation (7 days after formation), and full bloom of 3-year-old mangos (Mangifera indica L.) in pot culture. Also, diffusible IAA and ABA in the diffusate of shoot tips were examined at the different developing stages. High gibberellin and diffusable IAA activity was found in the xylem sap at leaf differentiation. Diffusible IAA decreased to a low level in shoot tip diffusates, and ABA increased dramatically during early flower bud formation. At the same time, total cytokinin-like activity increased in the xylem sap, reaching a maximum level at full bloom. Chemical names used: 1H-indole-3-acetic acid (IAA); [S-(Z,E)]-5-(l-hydroxy-2,6,6-trimethyl-4-oxo-2-cyclohexen-1-yl)-3-methyl-2,4-pentadienoic acid [abscisic acid (ABA)].