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Early changes in the concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) were investigated in the larger axillary bud of 2-week-old Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv Tender Green seedlings after removal of the dominant apical bud. Concentrations of these two hormones were measured at 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 hours following decapitation of the apical bud and its subtending shoot. Quantitations were accomplished using either gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-selected ion monitoring (GS-MS-SIM) with [(13)C(6)]-IAA or [(2)H(6)]-ABA as quantitative internal standards, or by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, validated by GC-MS-SIM. Within 4 hours after decapitation the IAA concentration in the axillary bud had increased fivefold, remaining relatively constant thereafter. The concentration of ABA in axillary buds of decapitated plants was 30 to 70% lower than for buds of intact plants from 4 to 24 hours following decapitation. Fresh weight of buds on decapitated plants had increased by 8 hours after decapitation and this increase was even more prominent by 24 hours. Anatomical assessment of the larger axillary buds at 0, 8, and 24 hours following decapitation showed that most of the growth was due to cell expansion, especially in the intermodal region. Thus, IAA concentration in the axillary bud increases appreciably within a very few hours of decapitation. Coincidental with the rise in IAA concentration is a modest, but significant reduction in ABA concentration in these axillary buds after decapitation.

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 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.

Gibberellins A(1), A(3), and iso-A(3) were identified from aseptic cultures of Azospirillum lipoferum strain op 33 by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-MS-selected ion monitoring. There were 20 to 40 picograms (in GA(3) equivalents, estimated from bioassay) of gibberellins A(1) and A(3) per milliliter of cell culture (containing 10(9) cells).

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).

Previous work has indicated that changes in gibberellin (GA) metabolism may be involved in chilling-induced release from dormancy in somatic embryos of grape (Vitis vinifera L. x V. rupestris Scheele). We have chilled somatic embryos of grape for 2, 4, or 8 weeks, then incubated them with [(3)H]GA(4) (of high specific activity, 4.81 x 10(10) becquerel per millimole) for 48 hours at 26 degrees C. Chilling had little effect on the total amount of free [(3)H]GA-like metabolites formed during incubation at 26 degrees C, but did change the relative proportions of individual metabolites. The amount of highly water-soluble [(3)H] metabolites formed at 26 degrees C decreased in embryos chilled for 4 or 8 weeks. The concentration of endogenous GA precursors (e.g., GA(12) aldehyde-, kaurene-, and kaurenoic acid-like substances) increased in embryos chilled for 4 or 8 weeks. Treatment with abscisic acid (ABA) (known to inhibit germination in grape embryos) concurrent with [(3)H]GA(4) treatment at 26 degrees C, reduced the uptake of [(3)H] GA(4) but had little effect on the qualitative spectrum of metabolites. However, in the embryos chilled for 8 weeks and then treated with ABA for 48 hours at 26 degrees C, there was a higher concentration of GA precursors than in untreated control embryos. Chilled embryos thus have an enhanced potential for an increase in free GAs through synthesis from increased amounts of GA precursors, or through a reduced ability to form highly water-soluble GA metabolites (i.e., GA conjugates or polyhydroxylated free GAs).

An indirect method of enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA) is reported for abscisic acid (ABA), utilising a thyroglobulin-ABA conjugate for coating wells. The assay can use commercially available monoclonal antibodies, is sensitive to as little as 20 picograms ABA per well, and is much more conservative of antibody than direct methods. The most dilute ABA standards did not retain their antigenicity during storage, so ABA standard sets were diluted immediately prior to use. The indirect ELISA was used successfully to estimate ABA concentrations in developing cotyledons of Pisum sativum L., after only little preliminary purification. It was validated for this tissue through the use of gas chromatography-electron capture detection (GC-EC), and capillary GC-selected ion monitoring (GC-MS-SIM) using [(2)H(6)]ABA as an internal standard. Full spectrum GC-mass spectrometry was also used to verify that ABA was present in a sample assayed quantitatively by both ELISA and GC-MS-SIM.

Major gibberellins (GAs) in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv Romaine) pith explants have been identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or GC-selected ion monitoring (GC-SIM) as GA(1), 3-epi-GA(1), GA(8), GA(19), and GA(20). Treatment of pith explants with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (57 micromolar) plus kinetic (0.5 micromolar) induced xylogenesis. In this xylogenic treatment, the concentration of a biologically active, polar GA-like substance(s) increased during the first 2 days of culture, although all of the above GAs decreased (as measured by GC-SIM). In non-xylogenic treatments, where explants were cultured without exogenous hormones, or with IAA or kinetin alone, the concentration of the biologically active, polar GA-like substance(s) decreased during the first two days of culture, as did all of the above GAs (as measured by GC-SIM). Treatment of pith explants with exogenous GA(1) alone did not induce xylogenesis, but GA(1) at very low concentrations (0.0014 and 0.003 micromolar) synergized xylogenesis in the IAA plus kinetin-treated cultures. These results suggest that changes in the concentration of certain endogenous GAs may be involved in xylogenesis mediated by IAA plus kinetin in lettuce pith cultures.