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A Kinetic Analysis of the Effects of Gibberellic Acid, Zeatin, and Abscisic Acid on Leaf Tissue Senescence in Rumex¹

^a The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Hormones which inhibit senescence in Rumex leaf tissue in the dark include gibberellic acid and the cytokinin zeatin. Abscisic acid accelerates senescence in this tissue. Other workers have proposed that cytokinins, but not gibberellins, interact with abscisic acid in senescing Rumex leaf tissue. The present study reinvestigates the question of interaction using measurements of chlorophyll degradation kinetics as parameters of senescence rate and draws the conclusion that neither zeatin nor gibberellic acid interact with abscisic acid in this system. In support of this conclusion are these results. Zeatin clearly cannot overcome the effects of abscisic acid when hormone solutions are replaced every other day. The kinetics of chlorophyll breakdown for tissue treated with unreplaced saturating zeatin solutions is different from that of tissue exposed to saturating zeatin plus abscisic acid. The observed rates of chlorophyll breakdown for tissue treated with abscisic acid and zeatin agree closely with predicted rates using a multiplicative model for independent action of the two hormones.

Zeatin solutions, when replaced every other day, show up to a 550-fold increase in effective concentration in the retardation of senescence. Less than a 10-fold increase could be accounted for by the addition of more zeatin molecules to the tissue. A nonbiological inactivation of zeatin or the production of an inhibitor of zeatin action by the tissue could not be demonstrated. It seems that zeatin is metabolically inactivated or sequestered in this tissue. The possible physiological significance of the inactivation of cytokinins in leaf tissue is discussed.

³ Present address: Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167.

¹ This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grant HD 06851.

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