Abstract.
In order to understand the mode of action of auxins and cytokinins in the induction of cell division, the effects of the two plant growth regulators 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and N6-benzyladenine (BA) were investigated using mesophyll protoplasts of Petunia hybrida, cultivated in either complete medium or in medium deficient in cytokinin, auxin or both. Firstly we studied DNA synthesis, using 5-bromodeoxyuridine/bisbenzimide Hoechst/propidium iodide flow cytometry analyses and by the monitoring of histone H4 transcript levels. Roscovitine, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, was found to block the cell cycle prior to entry into the S and M phases in the cultured P. hybrida protoplasts. This suggests that in Petunia cells there is a requirement for CDK activity in order to complete the G1 and G2 phases. Further experiments using roscovitine showed that neither 2,4-D nor BA were individually able to induce cell cycle progression beyond the roscovitine G1 arrest. We also monitored the phytohormonal induction of S phase by studying variations in transcript levels of the gene for mitogenactivated protein kinase (PMEK1) and transcript levels of the cell division cycle gene cdc2Pet. Only 2,4-D, and not BA, was able to stimulate PMEK1 gene transcription; thus, the more rapid S-phase induction in 2,4-D-treated protoplasts may be attributable to the activation of this transduction pathway. In contrast, both plant growth regulators were required to induce the appearance of cdc2Pet mRNA transcripts prior to S-phase engagement.
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Received: 2 September 1997 / Accepted: 9 March 1998
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Tréhin, C., Planchais, S., Glab, N. et al. Cell cycle regulation by plant growth regulators: involvement of auxin and cytokinin in the re-entry of Petunia protoplasts into the cell cycle. Planta 206, 215–224 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250050393
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250050393