Analysis of Native Gibberellins in the Internode, Nodes, Leaves, and Inflorescence of Developing Avena Plants

The native gibberellins (GAs) of various organs of the Avena plant were analyzed by bioassay and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after silicic acid partition column chromatography. The major GA of the inflorescence was identified as GA(3) by GC-MS, and this GA also forms the major component of the nodes, p-1 internode, and roots as determined by GLC or chromatography/bioassay. The inflorescence and nodes are the major sources of native GAs, the last two leaves, internode, and roots having significantly lower amounts of GA-like substances. In the internode, less polar GAs predominated at the lag stage of development, whereas by the log and plateau stages, the more polar GAs increased significantly.Since less polar GAs are early in oxidative interconversion sequences, this finding indicates sequential conversion to more polar and probably more active GAs, during log phase growth of the p-1 internode.