Abstract
Plants of Lolium temulentum L. cv. Ceres grown under short days (SDs) can be induced to initiate inflorescences either by exposure to one long day (LD) or by single applications of some gibberellins (GAs), which also enhance the flowering response to one LD. Single doses of up to 25 μg per plant of C-16, 17-dihydro-GA5 were about as effective as GA5 for promoting flowering after one LD but inhibited stem elongation by up to 40% over three weeks. The promotion of flowering but not the inhibition of elongation by 16, 17-dihydro-GA5 was reduced in SDs or in LDs low in far-red (FR) radiation. With shoot apices cultured in vitro, 16, 17-dihydro-GA5 was more florigenic than GA3 for apices excised after one LD of 14 h or more, but less florigenic for apices excised from plants in shorter days. 16, 17-Dihydro-GA5 was ineffective compared with GA1, GA3 and GA5 for α-amylase production by half-seeds of Lolium, a response concordant with its effect on stem elongation. As with GA5, 16, 17-dihydro derivatives of GA1, GA3, GA20 and several other GAs were more effective for flowering and less effective for stem elongation than the GAs from which they were derived. Hydroxylation at C-17 and/or C-16 generally reduced the effectiveness of 16, 17-dihydro-GA5 for flowering. These results extend the known features of GA structure which favour flowering relative to stem elongation in L. temulentum. Moreover, C-16, 17-dihydro-GA5 mimics, in its daylength- and wavelength-dependence and lack of stem elongation, characteristics of the LD stimulus in L. temulentum.
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Abbreviations
- FR:
-
far-red
- GA:
-
gibberellin
- LD:
-
long day
- PAR:
-
photosynthetically active radiation
- R:
-
red
- SD:
-
short day
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We are grateful to Cheryl Blundell and Bruce Twitchin for technical assistance and Dr G. Kretschmer and Prof. O. Junttila for comments on the manuscript.
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Evans, L.T., King, R.W., Mander, L.N. et al. The differential effects of C-16,17-dihydro gibberellins and related compounds on stem elongation and flowering in Lolium temulentum . Planta 193, 107–114 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191613
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191613