Regulation of plant growth by cytokinin.

Cytokinins are a class of plant-specific hormones that play a central role during the cell cycle and influence numerous developmental programs. Because of the lack of biosynthetic and signaling mutants, the regulatory roles of cytokinins are not well understood. We genetically engineered cytokinin oxidase expression in transgenic tobacco plants to reduce their endogenous cytokinin content. Cytokinin-deficient plants developed stunted shoots with smaller apical meristems. The plastochrone was prolonged, and leaf cell production was only 3-4% that of wild type, indicating an absolute requirement of cytokinins for leaf growth. In contrast, root meristems of transgenic plants were enlarged and gave rise to faster growing and more branched roots. These results suggest that cytokinins are an important regulatory factor of plant meristem activity and morphogenesis, with opposing roles in shoots and roots.

Hormone autotrophic growth and differentiation identifies mutant lines of Arabidopsis with altered cytokinin and auxin content or signaling.

We describe mutant tissue lines of Arabidopsis that are able to grow in vitro as callus on hormone-free medium. The 14 lines presented here show different hormone autotrophic differentiation behaviors that can be classified into three categories: (a) forming roots (rooty callus), (b) forming shoots or shoot-like structures (shooty callus), or (c) growing without organ formation (callus). Three fast-growing lines showed altered steady-state mRNA levels of the Cdc2 and CycD3 cell cycle genes. Three of the six rooty callus lines contained about 20- to 30-fold higher levels of auxins than wild-type callus. These and two other lines with normal auxin content showed an increased steady-state level of IAA1 and IAA2 transcripts in the absence of exogenous auxin. Five of the six shooty callus lines had increased steady-state mRNA levels of the CKI1 gene and/or of the homeobox genes KNAT1 and STM, suggesting that the phenotype is linked to altered cytokinin signaling. Also, one cytokinin-overproducing line with only 5% of wild-type cytokinin oxidase activity was identified. These results indicate that screening for hormone-autonomous growth identifies mutants with altered hormone content or signaling.

Cytokinins in tobacco and wheat chloroplasts. Occurrence and changes due to light/dark treatment.

Although cytokinins (CKs) affect a number of processes connected with chloroplasts, it has never been rigorously proven that chloroplasts contain CKs. We isolated intact chloroplasts from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv SR1) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Ritmo) leaves and determined their CKs by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectroscopy. Chloroplasts from both species contained a whole spectrum of CKs, including free bases (zeatin and isopentenyladenine), ribosides (zeatin riboside, and isopentenyladenosine), ribotides (isopentenyladenosine-5'-monophosphate, zeatin riboside-5'-monophosphate, and dihydrozeatin riboside-5'-monophosphate), and N-glucosides (zeatin-N(9)-glucoside, dihydrozeatin-N(9)-glucoside, zeatin-N(7)-glucoside, and isopentenyladenine-N-glucosides). In chloroplasts there was a moderately higher relative amount of bases, ribosides, and ribotides than in leaves, and a significantly increased level of N(9)-glucosides of zeatin and dihydrozeatin. Tobacco and wheat chloroplasts were prepared from leaves at the end of either a dark or light period. After a dark period, chloroplasts accumulated more CKs than after a light period. The differences were moderate for free bases and ribosides, but highly significant for glucosides. Tobacco chloroplasts from dark-treated leaves contained zeatin riboside-O-glucoside and dihydrozeatin riboside-O-glucoside, as well as a relatively high CK oxidase activity. These data show that chloroplasts contain a whole spectrum of CKs and the enzymatic activity necessary for their metabolism.

Changes in Cytokinin Content and Cytokinin Oxidase Activity in Response to Derepression of ipt Gene Transcription in Transgenic Tobacco Calli and Plants.

Metabolic control of cytokinin oxidase by its substrate was investigated in planta using wild-type (WT) and conditionally ipt gene-expressing transgenic (IPT) tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) callus cultures and plants. The derepression of the tetracycline (Tc)-dependent ipt gene transcription was followed by a progressive, more than 100-fold increase in total cytokinin content in IPT calli. The activity of cytokinin oxidase extracted from these calli began to increase 16 to 20 h after gene derepression, and after 13 d it was 10-fold higher than from Tc-treated WT calli. An increase in cytokinin oxidase activity, as a consequence of elevated cytokinin levels, was found in detached leaves (8-fold after 4 d) and in roots of intact plants (4-fold after 3 d). The partially purified cytokinin oxidase from WT, repressed IPT, and Tc-derepressed IPT tobacco calli exhibited similar characteristics. It had the same broad pH optimum (pH 6.5-8.5), its activity in vitro was enhanced 4-fold in the presence of copper-imidazole, and the apparent Km(N6-[[delta]2iso-pentenyl]adenine) values were in the range of 3.1 to 4.9 [mu]M. The increase in cytokinin oxidase activity in cytokinin-overproducing tissue was associated with the accumulation of a glycosylated form of the enzyme. The present data indicate the substrate induction of cytokinin oxidase activity in different tobacco tissues, which may contribute to hormone homeostasis.