J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 1974, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (2): -.

• Research Articles •    

Hormonal Control of Boll Shedding in Cotton Plant

Hsu Ten-wei, Cheng Chat-wing and Tang Yu-wei   

Abstract: The physiological mechanism of boll shedding is not yet known with certainty. It is desirable, the control of boll shedding in cotton plant, to clear up this problem in order to devise means for. The present report concerns mainly with the results on the hormonal control of boll shedding. On the hypothesis that growth hormone is responsible for the normal development of fruits, we compared the relative auxin contents of fertilized and unfertilized bolls of the cotton plant. It was found that the fertilized bolls contained more growth-promoting substances than the unfertilized bolls. On the other hand, the unfertilized bolls contained more growth-inhibiting material than the fertilized ones. The principle endogenous growth substance of cotton bolls was identified to be idole-3-acetic acid by Salkowski's reaction and by IAA-oxidase. Further experiments showed that application of exogenous auxin to the unfertilized bolls not only decreased the percentage of shedding but also stimulated development of young bolls. On the basis of the results of soluble carbohydrate analysis and isotope tracer experiments, it is concluded that a competition for nutrients may exist between the growth of reproductive and vegetative organs and that both fertilization and IAA control the transport trend of foliar assimilates. Plant hormone controls boll setting in cotton plants by affecting the distribution and translocation of photosynthetic products.

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