To define the relations between endogenous GA levels and growth and flowering in short-day plant sorghum, growth retardant BX-112 was applied to two sorghum genotypes, wild-type and phytochrome B mutant (phyB-1), which grows faster and flowers earlier than the wild-type. BX-112 and GA3 were applied as a soil drench, and plant height, culm length, and date to floral initiation were investigated. Endogenous GAs contents were measured with GC-MS-SIM. BX-112 treatments inhibited shoot growth in both genotypes and drastically reduced GA1 and GA8 levels. With increasing BX-112 concentrations, GA1 concentrations declined linearly, but caused the accumulation of intermediates from GA12 to GA20 . This result implies that GA1 is the major active endogenous GA in shoot elongation in a short day plant sorghum. The inhibition of plant growth in both of wild type and phyB-1 by BX-112 was very similar, while BX-112 effects on floral initiation in two types of plants differed significantly. Floral initiation of phyB-1 was not affected by BX-1l2, but that of wild-type was delayed as BX-1l2 concentration increased. Because BX-112 treatment causes accumulation of biosynthetic intermediates between synthetic pathway from GA12 to GA20 and because phyB-1 is altered in GA metabolism in this same region of the early C13-hydroxylation pathway, BX-112 may fail to block flowering of phyB-1.

• In-Jung Lee
• Kil-Ung Kim
• Page W. Morgan