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Effect of gibberellic acid on pod set in soybean

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Abstract

Field-grown soybean plants (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Evans) were treated with gibberellic acid (GA3; 10gl−1) and/or (2-chloroethyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (CCC; 0.8gl−1) in 1983 and 1984, and subsequent anthesis, pod set, seed size, seed number, and seed yield were determined at one node. The treatments were applied to five leaves in the center of each plant (typically leaves 7–11) and reproductive development at the node in the center of those leaves was monitored. Gibberellin A3 applied “Early” (about 3d before anthesis of the first flower at the monitored node) had no effect on the number of flowers produced, but decreased the fraction of flowers that set pods in both experimental years (by 32% in 1983 and 76% in 1984). Seed size was slightly decreased by the GA3 treatment in 1983 but not in 1984. The “Middle” GA3 treatment (applied about 3 days after the “Early” treatment) slightly decreased the number of pods set; and “Late” treatments (9 days after) had no effect. None of the monitored parameters were affected by CCC.

The “Early” experiments were repeated with two additional genotypes, Lincoln and T210. Genotype T210 is a single-gene, dwarf mutant of Lincoln whose stem elongation and leaf expansion are insensitive to GA3. Gibberellin A3 affected the reproductive parameters in Lincoln very similarly to Evans but those in T210 were unaffected. This indicates that GA3 exerts its effect by increasing the mass of vegetative tissue and thus diverting assimilates away from the pods. However, since the mutation in T210 might affect a receptor that is in flowers as well as shoots, it is possible that GA3 exerted its effect on the normal genotypes directly on the developing pods, rather than indirectly by diverting photoassimilates.

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  1. Department of Horticultural Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, 55108, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Paul R. Birnberg & Mark L. Brenner

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  1. Paul R. Birnberg
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  2. Mark L. Brenner
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Birnberg, P.R., Brenner, M.L. Effect of gibberellic acid on pod set in soybean. Plant Growth Regul 5, 195–206 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024695

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024695

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