Identification of endogenous gibberellins from sorghum

Gibberellins: a phytohormonal basis for heterosis in maize

Four commercially important maize parental inbreds and their 12 F(1) hybrids were studied to investigate the role of the phytohormone gibberellin (GA) in the regulation of heterosis (hybrid vigor). All hybrids grew faster than any inbred. In contrast, all inbreds showed a greater promotion of shoot growth after the exogenous application of GA(3). Concentrations of endogenous GA(1), the biological effector for shoot growth in maize, and GA(19), a precursor of GA(1), were measured in apical meristematic shoot cylinders for three of the inbreds and their hybrids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring; deuterated GAs were used as quantitative internal standards. In 34 of 36 comparisons, hybrids contained higher concentrations of endogenous GAs than their parental inbreds. Preferential growth acceleration of the inbreds by exogenous GA(3) indicates that a deficiency of endogenous GA limits the growth of the inbreds and is thus a cause of inbreeding depression. Conversely, the increased endogenous concentration of GA in the hybrids could provide a phytohormonal basis for heterosis for shoot growth.

Photoperiod control of gibberellin levels and flowering in sorghum

Regulation of rhythmic peaks in levels of endogenous gibberellins (GAs) by photoperiod was studied in the short-day monocot sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench). Comparisons were made between three maturity (Ma) genotypes: 58M (Ma1Ma1, Ma2Ma2, phyB-1phyB-1, and Ma4Ma4 [a phytochrome B null mutant]); 90M (Ma1Ma1, Ma2Ma2, phyB-2phyB-2, and Ma4Ma4); and 100M (Ma1Ma1, Ma2Ma2, PHYBPHYB, and Ma4Ma4). Plants were grown for 14 d under 10-, 14-, 16-, 18-, and 20-h photoperiods, and GA levels were assayed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry every 3 h for 24 h. Under inductive 10-h photoperiods, the peak of GA20 and GA1 levels in 90M and 100M was shifted from midday, observed earlier with 12-h photoperiods, to an early morning peak, and flowering was hastened. In addition, the early morning peaks in levels of GA20 and GA1 in 58M under conditions allowing early flowering (10-, 12-, and 14-h photoperiods) were shifted to midday by noninductive (18- and 20-h) photoperiods, and flowering was delayed. These results are consistent with the possibility that the diurnal rhythm of GA levels plays a role in floral initiation and may be one way by which the absence of phytochrome B causes early flowering in 58M under most photoperiods.

Feed-back regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis and gene expression in Pisum sativum L

Treatment of tall and dwarf (3 beta-hydroxylase impaired) genotypes of pea (Pisum sativum L.) with the synthetic, highly active gibberellin (GA), 2,2-dimethyl GA4, reduced the shoot contents of C19-GAs, including GA1, and increased the concentration of the C20-GA, GA19. In shoots of the slender (la crys) mutant, the content of C19-GAs was lower and GA19 content was higher than in those of the tall line. Metabolism of GA19 and GA20 in leaves of a severe (na) GA-deficient dwarf mutant was reduced by GA treatment. The results suggest feed-back regulation of the 20-oxidation and 3 beta-hydroxylation reactions. Feed-back regulation of GA 20-oxidation was studied further using a cloned GA 20-oxidase cDNA from pea. The cDNA, Ps074, was isolated using polymerase chain reaction with degenerate oligonucleotide primers based on pumpkin and Arabidopsis 20-oxidase sequences. After expression of this cDNA clone in Escherichia coli, the product oxidized GA12 to GA15, GA24 and the C19-GA, GA9, which was the major product. The 13-hydroxylated substrate GA53 was similarly oxidized, but less effectively than GA12, giving mainly GA44 with low yields of GA19 and GA20. Ps074 hybridized to polyadenylated RNA from expanding shoots of pea. Amounts of this transcript were less in the slender genotype than in the tall line and were reduced in GA-deficient genotypes by treatment with GA3, suggesting that there is feed-back regulation of GA 20-oxidase gene expression.

Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor (IX. The ma3R Allele Disrupts Diurnal Control of Gibberellin Biosynthesis)

The diurnal regulation of gibberellin (GA) concentrations in Sorghum bicolor was studied in a mutant lacking a light-stable 123-kD phytochrome (ma3Rma3R), wild-type (ma3ma3,Ma3Ma3), and heterozygous (ma3ma3R) cultivars. GAs were determined in shoots of 14-d-old plants by gas chromatography-selected ion-monitoring-mass spectrometry. GA12 levels fluctuated rhythmically in Ma3Ma3, ma3ma3, and,ma3Rma3R; Peak levels occured 3 to 9 h after lights-on. In some experiments, GA53 levels followed a similar pattern. There was no rhythmicity in levels of GA19 and GA8 in any genotype. In ma3ma3 and Ma3Ma3, GA20 levels increased at lights-on, peaked in the afternoon, and decreased to minimum levels in darkness. In ma3Rma3R, peak GA20 levels occured at lights-on, 9 h earlier than in the wild-type genotypes. The pattern for GA1 levels closely followed GA20 levels in all cultivars. One copy of ma3 restored near wild-type regulation of GA20 levels. GA rhythms persisted in 25-d-old ma3ma3 plants. Since absence of the 123-kD phytochrome disrupted diurnal regulation of the GA19 -> GA20 step, the ma3Rma3R genotype may be viewed as being phase shifted in the rhythmic levels of GA20 and GA1 rather than as simply overproducing them.

Gibberellins and the Legume-Rhizobium Symbiosis : III. Quantification of Gibberellins from Stems and Nodules of Lima Bean and Cowpea

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) plants inoculated with Bradyrhizobium sp. strain 127E14 displayed a period of marked internode elongation that was not observed in plants inoculated with other compatible bradyrhizobia, including strain 127E15. When strain 127E14 nodulated an alternate host, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), a similar, although less dramatic growth response induced by the bacteria was observed. It has been speculated that the elongative growth promotion brought about by inoculation with strain 127E14 is mediated by gibberellins (GAs). Using deuterated internal standards and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analysis, we have quantified the levels of GA(1), GA(20), GA(19), and GA(44) in nodules and stems of two varieties of lima bean (bush and pole) and one variety of cowpea that were inoculated with either strain 127E14 or 127E15. In nodules formed by strain 127E14 on lima bean, endogenous levels of GA(20) and GA(19) were 10 to 40 times higher (35-88 ng/g dry weight) than amounts found in nodules formed by strain 127E15 (2.2-3.9 ng/g dry weight). Relative amounts of GA(44) were also higher (4- to 11-fold) in 127E14 nodules, but this increase was less pronounced. The rhizobial-induced increase of these GAs in the nodule occurred in both pole and bush varieties and seemed to be independent of host morphology. Regardless of rhizobial inoculum, levels of the "bioactive" GA(1) in the nodule (0.3-1.1 ng/g dry weight) were similar. In cowpea nodules, a similar, although smaller, difference in GA content due to rhizobial strain was observed. The concentration of GA(1) in lima bean stems was generally higher than that observed in the nodule, whereas concentrations of the other GAs measured were lower. In contrast with the nodule, GA concentrations in lima bean stems were not greater in plants inoculated with strain 127E14, and in some cases the slower growing plants inoculated with strain 127E15 actually had higher levels of GA(20), GA(19), and GA(44). Thus, there were major differences in concentrations of the precursors to GA(1) in nodules formed by the two bacterial strains, which were positively correlated with the observed elongation growth. These results support the hypothesis that the rhizobial strain modifies the endogenous GA status of the symbiotic system. This alteration in GA balance within the plant, presumably, underlies the observed growth response.

Gibberellins and the Legume-Rhizobium Symbiosis : I. Endogenous Gibberellins of Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) Stems and Nodules

The content of gibberellin-like substances in nodules formed by Bradyrhizobium species strain 127E14 on roots of lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) has been previously found to be relatively high. The objectives of the present study were to purify and identify the endogenous gibberellins from the stems and nodules of lima bean. By sequential silica gel partition column chromatography, C(18) reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography, and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the gibberellins A(1), A(3), A(19), A(20), A(29), and A(44) were identified from root nodules. Gibberellins A(1), A(3), A(19), A(20), and A(44) were also identified from lima bean stem tissue. These data provide the first mass spectral-based evidence that gibberellins are present in leguminous root nodules. The presence of the gibberellins identified indicates that the early 13-hydroxylation gibberellin biosynthetic pathway predominates in stem and nodule tissue. However, it is not known if the gibberellins within the nodules are produced in situ, or if they are imported from some remote host plant tissue.

Comparison of gibberellins in normal and slender barley seedlings

Gibberellins A(1), A(3), A(8), A(19), A(20), and A(29) were identified by full scan gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in leaf sheath segments of 7-day-old barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Golden Promise) seedlings grown at 20 degrees C under long days. In a segregating population of barley, cv Herta (Cb 3014), containing the recessive slender allele, (sln 1) the concentration of GA(1) and GA(3) was reduced by 10-fold and 6-fold, respectively, in rapidly growing homozygous slender, compared with normal, leaf sheath segments. However, the concentration of the C(20) precursor, GA(19), was nearly 2-fold greater in slender than in normal seedlings. There was little difference in the ABA content of sheath segments between the two genotypes. The gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor, paclobutrazol, reduced the final sheath length of normal segregants (50% inhibition at 15 micromolar) but had no effect on the growth of slender seedlings at concentrations below 100 micromolar. There was a 15-fold and 4-fold reduction in GA(1) and GA(3), respectively, in sheath segments of 8-day-old normal seedlings following application of 10 micromolar paclobutrazol. The same treatment also reduced the already low concentrations of these gibberellins in slender segregants. The results show that the pool sizes of gibberellins A(1) and A(3) are small in slender barley and that leaf sheath extension in this genotype appears to be gibberellin-independent. The relationship between gibberellin status and tissue growth-rate in slender barley is contrasted with other gibberellin nonresponsive, but dwarf, mutants of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays).

Detection of endogenous gibberellins and their relationship to hypocotyl elongation in soybean seedlings

Four gibberellins, GA(53), GA(19), GA(20), and GA(1), were detected by bioassay, chromatography in two HPLC systems, and combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy-selected ion monitoring (GC-MS-SIM) in etiolated soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) hypocotyls. GC-MS-SIM employed [(2)H(2)]-labeled standards for each endogenous gibberellin detected, and quantities estimated from bioassays and GC-MS-SIM were similar. This result plus the tentative detection of GA(44) and GA(8) (standards not available) indicates that the early-C-13-hydroxylation pathway for gibberellin biosynthesis predominates in soybean hypocotyls. Other gibberellins were not detected. Growth rates decreased after transfer to low water potential (psi(w)) vermiculite and were completely arrested 24 hours after transfer. The GA(1) content in the elongating region of hypocotyls had declined to 38% of the 0 time value at 24 hours after transfer to low psi(w) vermiculite, a level which was only 13% of the GA(1) content in control seedlings at the same time (24 hours posttransfer). Rewatering seedlings following 24 hours growth in low psi(w) vermiculite resulted in a complete recovery in elongation rate, an increase in GA(1) (20% at 2 hours, two-fold at 8 hours, eightfold at 24 hours), and a decrease in ABA levels (tenfold at 2 hours). Treatment of well-watered seedlings with the GA-synthesis inhibitor tetcyclacis (TCY) resulted in lowered GA(1) levels and increased ABA levels. When seedlings grown 24 hours in low psi(w) vermiculite were rewatered with TCY, recovery of the elongation rate was delayed and reduced, and the decline in ABA levels was slowed. Addition of GA(3) restored the elongation rate inhibited by TCY. Seedlings were growth responsive to exogenous GA(3), and this GA(3)-promoted growth was inhibited by exogenous ABA. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that changes in GA(1) and ABA levels play a role in adjusting hypocotyl elongation rates. However, the changes observed are not of sufficient magnitude nor do they occur rapidly enough to suggest they are the primary regulators of elongation rate responses to rapidly changing plant water status.

A mutant gene that increases gibberellin production in brassica

A single gene mutant (elongated internode [ein/ein]) with accelerated shoot elongation was identified from a rapid cycling line of Brassica rapa. Relative to normal plants, mutant plants had slightly accelerated floral development, greater stem dry weights, and particularly, increased internode and inflorescence elongation. The application of the triazole plant growth retardant, paclobutrazol, inhibited shoot elongation, returning ein to a more normal phenotype. Conversely, exogenous gibberellin A(3) (GA(3)) can convert normal genotypes to a phenotype resembling ein. The content of endogenous GA(1) and GA(3) were estimated by gas chromatography-selected ion monitoring using [(2)H]GA(1), as a quantitative internal standard and at day 14 were 1.5- and 12.1-fold higher per stem, respectively, in ein than in normal plants, although GA concentrations were more similar. The endogenous levels of GA(20) and GA(1), and the rate of GA(19) metabolism were simultaneously analyzed at day 7 by feeding [(2)H(2)]GA(19) and measuring metabolites [(2)H(2)]GA(20) and [(2)H(2)]GA(1) and endogenous GA(20) and GA(1), with [(2)H(5)]GA(20) and [(2)H(5)]GA(1) as quantitative internal standards. Levels of GA(1) and GA(20) were 4.6- and 12.9-fold higher, respectively, and conversions to GA(20) and GA(1) were 8.3 and 1.3 times faster in ein than normal plants. Confirming the enhanced rate of GA(1) biosynthesis in ein, the conversion of [(3)H]GA(20) to [(3)H]GA(1) was also faster in ein than in the normal genotype. Thus, the ein allele results in accelerated GA(1) biosynthesis and an elevated content of endogenous GAs, including the dihydroxylated GAs A(1) and A(3). The enhanced GA production probably underlies the accelerated shoot growth and development, and particularly, the increased shoot elongation.

A Gibberellin-Deficient Brassica Mutant-rosette

A single-gene mutant (rosette [ros/ros]) in which shoot growth and development are inhibited was identified from a rapid cycling line of Brassica rapa (syn campestris). Relative to normal plants, the mutant germinated slowly, had delayed or incomplete floral development, and reduced leaf, petiole, and internode growth. The exogenous application of GA(3) by foliar spray or directly to the shoot tip of rosette resulted in rapid flowering, bolting (shoot elongation), and viable seed production. Shoots of rosette contained endogenous levels of total gibberellin (GA)-like substances (;Tan-ginbozu' dwarf rice assay) of about one-tenth of that of the normal rapid-cycling line of B. rapa which consisted almost entirely of a very nonpolar, GA-like substance which yielded GA(1) and GA(3) upon mild acid hydrolysis. In a normal rapid-cycling B. rapa line, the nonpolar putative GA(1) and GA(3) conjugates were present, but additionally, free GA(1) and GA(3) were abundant and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-selected ion monitoring. The quantities of free GA(1) and GA(3) in the normal line and in rosette were quantified by GC-MS-SIM using [(2)H(2)]GA(1) as an internal standard. Fourteen-day-old rosette and normal seedlings contained 5.3 and 23.2 ng GA(1) per plant, respectively. At day 21 the rosette plants contained 7.7 and 26.1 nanograms per plant of GA(1) and GA(3), while normal plants contained 31.1 and 251.5 nanograms per plant, respectively. Thus, normal plants contained from four to ten times higher levels of total GA-like substances, GA(1), or GA(3), than rosette. The ros allele results in reduced GA level, yielding the rosette phenotype whose delayed germination and flowering, and reduced shoot growth responses indicate a probable role for endogenous GA(1) and GA(3) in the regulation of these processes in Brassica.

Endogenous Gibberellins and Shoot Growth and Development in Brassica napus

Greenhouse-grown oilseed rape (Brassica napus, annual Canola variety ;Westar') plants were harvested at six dates from the vegetative phase until the early pod (silique)-fill/late flowering stage. Endogenous gibberellin (GA)-like substances were extracted from stems, purified, and chromatographed on silica gel partition columns prior to bioassay in serial dilution using the ;Tan-ginbozu' dwarf rice microdrop assay. The concentrations of total endogenous GA-like substances were low during vegetative stages (1 nanogram GA(3) equivalents/gram dry weight), and rose 300-fold by the time of floral initiation. After floral initiation the concentration of GA-like substances fell, then rose again during bolting to maximal levels during the early pod-fill stage (940 nanograms per gram dry weight). The qualitative profiles of GA-like substances varied across harvests, with higher proportions of a GA(1)-like substance at the early pod-fill stage. In a second study stems were similarly harvested at eight dates and the concentrations of endogenous GA(1), the principal bioactive native GA of oilseed rape, were determined by gas chromatography-selected ion monitoring using [17,17-(2)H]GA(1) as a quantitative internal standard. The concentration of GA(1) increased at about the time of floral initiation and then subsequently fell, thus confirming the pattern noted above for total GA-like substances. The exogenous application of paclobutrazol (PP333), a persistent triazole plant growth regulator (PGR) which blocks GA biosynthesis, or another triazole, triapenthenol (RSW0411), prevented flowering as well as bolting; plants remained at the vegetative rosette stage. These results imply a causal role for endogenous GA, in the control of bolting, which normally precedes anthesis. Further, the rise in the concentration of total endogenous GA-like substances, including GA(1), which was associated with floral initiation, and the prevention of visable floral development by the triazole PGRs, also indicates a role for endogenous GAs in the regulation of flowering in B. napus.

Endogenous Gibberellins in Elongating Shoots of Clones of Salix dasyclados and Salix viminalis

Elongating shoots of rapidly growing clones of Salix viminalis L. (clone 683-4) and Salix dasyclados Wimm. (clone 908) harvested in early August were analyzed for endogenous gibberellins (GA). Distribution of GA-like activity, determined by Tan-ginbozu dwarf rice microdrop bioassay after reverse phase C(18) high performance chromatography, was similar for both species. For S. dasyclados, combined gas chromatography-selected ion monotoring (GC-SIM) yielded identifications of GA(1), GA(8), GA(19), GA(20), and GA(29). Identifications of GA(4) and GA(9) were also made using co-injections of known amounts of [17, 17-(2)H(2)]GAs. By bioassay, the main activity was GA(19)-like in both species. Gibberellin A(1), GA(19), and GA(20) concentrations were approximated by GC-SIM using co-injections of known amounts of [17,17-(2)H(2)]GAs. Both bioassay and GC-SIM results indicated very high concentrations of GA(19) and GA(20) (about 6000 nanograms per kilogram fresh weight shoot tissue using GC-SIM: 800 ng using bioassay), compared to the concentration of GA(1) (about 130 nanograms per kilogram fresh weight using either GC-SIM or bioassay).

Identification of endogenous gibberellins from oilseed rape

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus, canola variety ;Westar') plants were grown in greenhouse conditions and shoots were harvested during the final stages of shoot elongation. Leaves and immature pods were removed and the remaining stem tissue was extracted and purified. The extract was chromatographed on sequential, step-eluted silica gel partition and reverse-phase C(18) HPLC columns, and gibberellin (GA)-like substances were detected using the ;Tan-ginbozu' dwarf rice microdrop assay. Purified fractions showing GA-like activity were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-selected ion monitoring (GC-SIM). Gibberellins A(1), A(3), and iso-A(3) were identified by full spectrum GC-MS with GA(1) being the most abundant GA in the stem tissue. Gibberellins A(19) and A(20) were identified by GC-SIM and are logical precursors of the GA(1).

Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor: IV. GA(3) Hastens Floral Differentiation but Not Floral Development under Nonfavorable Photoperiods

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench lines with genetic differences in photoperiod requirement were planted in the field near Plainview, Texas (about 34 degrees northern latitude) around June 1 and treated with gibberellic acid (GA(3)) solutions applied in the apical leaf whorl. GA(3) hastened the date of floral differentiation (initiation). The greatest responses to GA(3) were by 90M and 100M, the latest of the genotypes, for which floral initiation dates were hastened an average of 19.5 and 21.7 days, respectively, for the 4 years beginning in 1980. There were very small differences in dates of anthesis between control and GA(3)-treated plants. Microscopic examination of apical meristems collected between the date of floral initiation of GA(3)-treated plants and the later date of initiation of control plants revealed: (a) several morphological characteristics of floral differentiation in the apical meristem of treated plants, (b) consistent occurrence of vegetative morphology in control plants, (c) a few meristems from GA(3)-treated plants that appeared to be regressing in floral development and thus possibly exhibiting dedifferentiation. Dedifferentiation of prepanicle primordia into leaves would explain the observed equal or greater number of leaves in GA(3)-treated plants rather than the expected smaller number. It is apparent that the presence of a morphological differentiated floral meristem in sorghum does not drive subsequent floral development in the absence of inductive photoperiods. This further suggests that initial floral differentiation and subsequent floral development may be controlled separately in sorghum.

Gibberellins and gravitropism in maize shoots: endogenous gibberellin-like substances and movement and metabolism of [3H]Gibberellin A20

[3H]Gibberellin A20 (GA20) of high specific radioactivity (49.9 gigabecquerel per millimole) was applied equilaterally in a ring of microdrops to the internodal pulvinus of shoots of 3-week-old gravistimulated and vertical normal maize (Zea mays L.), and to a pleiogravitropic (prostrate) maize mutant, lazy (la). All plants converted the [3H]GA20 to [3H]GA1- and [3H]GA29-like metabolites as well as to several metabolites with the partitioning and chromatographic behavior of glucosyl conjugates of [3H]GA1, [3H]GA29, and [3H]GA8. The tentative identification of these putative [3H]GA glucosyl conjugates was further supported by the release of the free [3H]GA moiety after cleavage with cellulase. Within 12 hours of the [3H]GA20 feed, there was a significantly higher proportion of total radioactivity in lower than in upper halves of internode and leaf sheath pulvini in gravistimulated normal maize. Further, there was a significantly higher proportion of putative free GA metabolites of [3H]GA20, especially [3H]GA1, in the lower halves of normal maize relative to upper halves. The differential localization of the metabolites between upper and lower halves was not apparent in the pleiogravitropic mutant, la. Endogenous GA-like substances were also examined in gravistimulated maize shoots. Forty-eight hours after gravistimulation of 3-week-old maize seedlings, endogenous free GA-like substances in upper and lower leaf sheath and internode pulvini halves were extracted, chromatographed, and bioassayed using the "Tanginbozu" dwarf rice microdrop assay. Lower halves contained consistently higher total levels of GA-like activity. The qualitative elution profile of GA-like substances differed consistently, upper halves containing principally a GA20-like substance and lower halves containing principally a GA20-like substance and lower halves containing mainly GA1-like and GA19-like substances. Gibberellins A1 (10 nanograms per gram) and A20 (5 nanograms per gram) were identified from these lower leaf sheath pulvini by capillary gas chromatography-selected ion monitoring. Results from all of these experiments are consistent with a role for GAs in the differential shoot growth that follows gravitropism, although the results do not eliminate the possibility that the redistribution of GAs results from the gravitropic response.