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Brassinolide, a plant growth-promoting steroid isolated from Brassica napus pollen

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Abstract

Extracts of Brassica napus L. (rape) pollen (family, Cruciferae) have been reported to produce a novel growth-promoting effect when applied to young pinto bean plants1,2. Fractions that are active in the bean second-internode assay3 give rise to both increased cell elongation and cell division4. The validity of these early reports has been questioned because biological activity was not correlated with any one pure compound5. Subsequently, we showed that isolation of the growth promoter was complicated by the presence of chromatographically similar, inactive components that were identified as 6-D-glucopyranosyl esters of long-chain fatty acids6. We now report the isolation, structure determination and biological activity of this new plant growth promoter, named (22R, 23R, 24S)-2α-3α,22,23-tetrahydroxy-24-methyl-6,7-s-5α-cholestano-6,7-lactone or brassinolide (Fig. 1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Regional Research Center, Science and Education Administration, US Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois, 61604

    Michael D. Grove, Gayland F. Spencer & William K. Rohwedder

  2. Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Science and Education Administration, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, 20705

    Nagabhushanam Mandava, Joseph F. Worley, J. David Warthen Jr & George L. Steffens

  3. Laboratory for the Structure of Matter, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia, 20375

    Judith L. Flippen-Anderson

  4. School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801

    J. Carter Cook Jr

Authors
  1. Michael D. Grove
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  2. Gayland F. Spencer
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  3. William K. Rohwedder
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  4. Nagabhushanam Mandava
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  5. Joseph F. Worley
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  6. J. David Warthen Jr
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  7. George L. Steffens
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  8. Judith L. Flippen-Anderson
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  9. J. Carter Cook Jr
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Grove, M., Spencer, G., Rohwedder, W. et al. Brassinolide, a plant growth-promoting steroid isolated from Brassica napus pollen. Nature 281, 216–217 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/281216a0

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