Endogenous hormones in afterripening wild oat (Avena fatua) seed

Abstract
Levels of GA and cytokinins in dormant A. fatua L. seeds were measured by bioassay during the afterripening process. Little change in the level of either hormone was detected in the dry seed. Following imbibition of fully afterripened seed, GA levels increased while cytokinin levels declined. Seed strains varying in their degree of dormancy were also analyzed for hormone levels; a significantly higher level of cytokinin activity was found in the most dormant strain compared with the least dormant strain. Low levels of bound hormones, including cytokinin ribotides and gibberellin glucose conjugates, were detected following enzyme hydrolysis but neither class of compounds varied greatly in level during afterripening. The major cytokinins detected in A. fatua seeds cochromatographed with zeatin-9-glucoside, zeatin riboside and zeatin on both high pressure liquid chromatography columns and chromatography paper. The major GA activity cochromatographed with GA4/GA7 on silica gel partition columns and thin-layer plates. Germination studies demonstrated that GA4/7 is significantly more active than GA3 in promoting the germination of dormant A. fatua seeds. External applications of cytokinins did not affect the germination of dormant seed, but did promote germination in partially afterripened material.

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