Abstract
A pulse treatment of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) embryos with the cytokinin N6-benzyladenine induces the formation of adventitious buds from subepidermal cells in the hypocotyl and cotyledons. In addition the treatment also inhibits elongation growth, a key process during germination. In this report we demonstrate that these effects on development of the plant are associated with a suppression of the accumulation of several major chloroplast proteins during germination. These proteins include the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate/carboxylase oxygenase, two subunits of the chloroplast ATPase, protochlorophyllide reductase and a 23000-Mr component of photosystem II. For two nuclear-encoded proteins, the small subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein, a corresponding suppression of the increase in the steady-state amounts of mRNA is recorded. The suppression of chloroplast protein synthesis is consistant with the previously documented delay in greening that results from cytokinin treatment, but the effect is opposite to that found in other plants, where cytokinins promote the synthesis of chloroplast proteins, and stimulate chloroplast biogenesis. We believe that this difference is explained by the cytokinin primarily suppressing organ development, and a strict dependance of chloroplast biogenesis on the developmental state of the organs.
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Abbreviations
- Rubisco:
-
ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase
- CF1:
-
coupling-factor 1 of chloroplast ATPase
- LHCP:
-
light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein
- LSU:
-
large subunit of Rubisco
- NADPH-protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase:
-
Pchlide reductase
- SDS:
-
sodium dodecyl sulfate
- SSU:
-
small subunit of Rubisco
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We thank K. Hutchison (Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA) and P. Gustafsson (Dept. of Plant Physiology, University of Umeå, Sweden) for providing the Larix and Pinus clones, and M. Ryberg (Dept. of Plant Physiology, University of Göteborg, Sweden), R. Ölmüller (Botanisches Institut, Universität München, FRG) and W. Lockau (Institut für Botanik, Universität Regensburg, FRG), for the gift of antisera towards Pchlide reductase, RuBPCase and LHCP, and ATPase, respectively. Supported by the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research and the Swedish Natural Sciences Research Council.
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Stabel, P., Sundås, A. & Engström, P. Cytokinin treatment of embryos inhibits the synthesis of chloroplast proteins in Norway spruce. Planta 183, 520–527 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00194273
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00194273