Metabolism of Tritiated Gibberellin A(9) by Shoots of Dark-grown Dwarf Pea, cv. Meteor.

Tritium-labeled gibberellin A(9) ((3)H-GA(9)) was metabolized by etiolated shoots of dwarf pea (Pisum sativum cv. Meteor) to GA(20), GA(10), 2,3-dihydro-GA(31), and a number of highly polar, acidic GA-like substances. Identifications were made by gasliquid radiochromatography and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Kinetic studies showed that GA(30) and 2,3-dihydro-GA(31) were produced within 5 hours following (3)H-GA(9) application to pea shoots. The polar GA-like substances were produced between 5 and 10 hours after (3)H-GA(9) application. Levels of GA(10) increased with time, and since no GA(10) was produced during the purification procedures, GA(10) was, in all probability, produced from (3)H-GA(9) within the plant tissue. The radioactive interconversion products produced by pea from (3)H-GA(9) have chromatographic properties similar to biologically active GA-like substances present in etiolated shoots of dwarf pea. Large scale applications of (3)H-GA(9) with very low specific activity to etiolated pea shoots showed that the radioactivity of the interconversion products was correlated exactly with biological activity as assayed by dwarf rice (Oryza sativa cv. Tan-ginbozu).