Possible Regulatory Roles of Cytokinins

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Abstract
Apparently free-base cytokinins can interact with cupric ions in a specific manner. Oxidation of NADH by a horseradish peroxidase system was strongly promoted by such cytokinins provided cupric ions were present. Oxidation was promoted by 5 micromolar kinetin, zeatin, 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), or 6-(Δ2-isopentenylamino)purine (2iP) but not by adenine, 6-methylaminopurine or 6,6-dimethylaminopurine. The 6-methylaminopurine promoted oxidation at 500 micromolar but adenine and 6,6-dimethylaminopurine did not. Activity of the free-base purines correlated well with their activity in cell-division assays. However, addition of methoxymethyl-, cyclohexyl-, or tetrahydropyranyl- at N-9 of BA or of ribosyl- at N-9 of BA, 2iP, kinetin, or zeatin eliminated activity in the peroxidase system. In a nonenzymic system containing cupric ions, all of the bases, including adenine, inhibited the Cu2+ -stimulated oxidation of ascorbic acid. As in the peroxidase system, the N-9 derivatives were inactive. The cytokinin promotion of NADH oxidation by peroxidase may result from an interaction of the hormones with copper, with peroxidase conferring a specificity similar to the cytokinin specificity observed in growth and development.