Endogenous Levels of Gibberellins, IAA and Cytokinins in Tobacco Crown Gall Tissues of Different Morphologies

Abstract

Endogenous levels of gibberellin (GA) as well as IAA and cytokinins in teratomas and unorganized crown gall tissues of tobacco were examined by GC-SIM (for GA and cytokinin) or HPLC with a fluorescence detector (for IAA). Two different types of crown gall induced by octopine-type and nopaline-type Ti-plasmids were used. In both types, GA contents were higher in shoot-forming teratomas than in unorganized calluses, while IAA contents were higher in unorganized calluses. But cytokinin contents in octopine-type cells were higher in unorganized calluses than in teratomas, whereas the contents in nopaline-type cells were higher in teratomas. Our results suggest that there is not always a relationship between the cytokinin/IAA balance and tobacco crown gall morphology, but GA production in tobacco tissues is closely related to its differentiation.