Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor (IX. The ma3R Allele Disrupts Diurnal Control of Gibberellin Biosynthesis)

Abstract

The diurnal regulation of gibberellin (GA) concentrations in Sorghum bicolor was studied in a mutant lacking a light-stable 123-kD phytochrome (ma3Rma3R), wild-type (ma3ma3,Ma3Ma3), and heterozygous (ma3ma3R) cultivars. GAs were determined in shoots of 14-d-old plants by gas chromatography-selected ion-monitoring-mass spectrometry. GA12 levels fluctuated rhythmically in Ma3Ma3, ma3ma3, and,ma3Rma3R; Peak levels occured 3 to 9 h after lights-on. In some experiments, GA53 levels followed a similar pattern. There was no rhythmicity in levels of GA19 and GA8 in any genotype. In ma3ma3 and Ma3Ma3, GA20 levels increased at lights-on, peaked in the afternoon, and decreased to minimum levels in darkness. In ma3Rma3R, peak GA20 levels occured at lights-on, 9 h earlier than in the wild-type genotypes. The pattern for GA1 levels closely followed GA20 levels in all cultivars. One copy of ma3 restored near wild-type regulation of GA20 levels. GA rhythms persisted in 25-d-old ma3ma3 plants. Since absence of the 123-kD phytochrome disrupted diurnal regulation of the GA19 -> GA20 step, the ma3Rma3R genotype may be viewed as being phase shifted in the rhythmic levels of GA20 and GA1 rather than as simply overproducing them.