Unlike the plant hormone auxin, the mechanism and function of cytokinin transport is poorly characterised. Two new studies now demonstrate that cytokinins transported from shoot to roots via the phloem are critical for creating mutually exclusive auxin and cytokinin signalling domains that control root vascular patterning.

Nitrate reductase activity in excised embryos of Agrostemma githago increases in response to both NO(3) (-) and cytokinins. We asked the question whether cytokinins affected nitrate reductase activity directly or through NO(3) (-), either by amplifying the effect of low endogenous NO(3) (-) levels, or by making NO(3) (-) available for induction from a metabolically inactive compartment. Nitrate...

When leaves of Bryophyllum marnierianum are detached from the plant, plantlets develop from primordia located at their margins. Leaves excised with a piece of stem attached do not produce plantlets. Severing the major leaf veins overcomes the inhibitory effect of the attached stem, indicating that the control agent is transmitted through the vascular system. A possible mechanism is that an inhi...

Cytokinins are ubiquitous plant hormones that have dramatic effects on growth and development, but almost nothing is known of their molecular mode of action. Recently, evidence has emerged that cytokinin action may involve a G-protein-coupled receptor and/or a two-component signaling pathway.

False broomrape on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) can be induced by applying cytokinins to the roots, by causing an increase in the cytokinin-auxin ratio in the roots, by removing the apical and auxillary buds, or by applying extracts from tobacco with false broomrape to the roots of healthy plants. It can be prevented by treating debudded plants with auxin.

A simple procedure for the separation of the cis and trans isomers of zeatin and ribosylzeatin by column chromatography on a neutral polystyrene resin, Porapak Q, in aqueous ethanol solutions is reported. The method has been used to examine the stereoisomer composition of ribosylzeatin isolated from wheat germ transfer RNA. Chromatographic data for several other cytokinins are also presented.

Gentiana pneumonanthe L. (fam. Gentianaceae) is a herbaceous perennial growing on wet heathlands, grasslands and hay meadows of Europe and Asia. Like other Gentiana species, G. pneumonanthe is characterized by the production of bitter secoiridoid glycosides (SGs) widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Hairy roots (HRs) of G. pneumonanthe, as an alternative source of these phytochemicals, h...

Cytokinins, a class of phytohormones, appear to play an important role in the processes of plant development. We genetically engineered the Agrobacterium tumefaciens isopentenyl transferase gene, placing it under control of a heat-inducible promoter (maize hsp70). The chimeric hsp70 isopentenyl transferase gene was transferred to tobacco and Arabidopsis plants. Heat induction of transgenic plan...