PHYTOHORMONES

PRESENTED BY:- MEHREEN

JAVERIA

HORMONES

Chemical that transfers information and

instructions between cells in animals
and plants
Hormones act more slowly, and their
effects typically are maintained over a
longer period of time.
Required in very low concentration.
Synthesized at one part and
translocated to another for their action.

PHYTOHORMONES

Also called growth

hormones.
A hormone produced
naturally by plants
that activates or
regulates their
growth.
The synthetic
equivalent used to
promote growth in
cultivated plants are
called as growth
regulators.
Have promoting or
inhibiting effect.

TYPES

Different types:Auxin
Gibberellins
Cytokinins
Ethylene
Abscisic acid
Jasmonic acid
Other hormones

AUXIN

Auxin (Gk. auxein=to

grow).
First to be discovered.
Name Auxin given by
WENT(1928).
First auxin isolated
from human urine and
was named heteroauxin,
chemically it was indole
3 acetic acid (IAA).
Weakly acidic
Capable of cell
elongation (shoots ).

Heteroauxin found in humans

suffering from pellagra, a disease
caused by deficiency of niacin
(vitamin B5).

TYPES

Natural Auxins :-

a tissue or organ in the earliest

stage of embryonic
development, found when the
dividing cells in the fertilized
ovum first differentiate .

Phytohormones
Synthesized in leaf primordia, shoot
apices and developing seeds.
Show polar movement.
Move slowly by diffusion from cell to cell
Optimum concentration:

Shoots :10ppm
Roots : 0.0001ppm

Examples :
IAA
3 acetaldehyde
4-chloro-idole
acetic acid

Synthetic
Auxins :Artificially made.
Cause similar
responses
common to IAA.
Move in all
directions.
Eg:

2,4-D
IBA (Indole Butyric
Acid)
NAA (Naphthalene
Butyric Acid)

FUNCTIONS

Cell enlargement
Cell division in cambium
Root growth (low conc.)
Apical dominance
Cause phototropism
Parthenocarpic fruits
(banana)
Synthesis of ethylene (
high conc. IAA)
Respiration (stimulate)

USES

Eradication of weeds (2,4-D)

Rooting stem cuttings (IBA ,NAA)
Parthenocarpy (grapes)
Flowering, plants like pineapple,
litchi (NAA)
Preventing pre harvest fruit drops of
orange, apple ,tomato etc.(2,4-D)
Prevention of falling of crop plants.
(NAAM-Naphthalene acetamide)

GIBBERELLINS

Isolated from
Gibberlla fujikori by
Yabuta(1935).
Weakly acidic
Cause cell elongation
of intact plant.
Increase internodal
length of dwarfed
plants
Synthesized in young
leaves near shoot tips,
NODE:the place on a
root tips etc.
plant stem where a

leaf is attached or has

been attached

They are synthesized from a

precursor compound mevalonic
acid (derived from acetyl co A).
They are transported in plants by
simple diffusion and also by
conducting channels.

TYPES

100 different types

have been
identified.
A single plant
posses a no. of
gibberellins.
They are termed as
GA1 (Gibberellic
acid), GA2,GA3,GA4
and so on.

FUNCTIONS

Stem and leaf growth

Elongation of genetically dwarf plants (pea,
maize)
Bolting (cabbage): elongation of internodes.
Induce flowering
Seed germination (stimulate prod. of
hydrolytic enzymes)
Development of fruits
Induce Parthenocarpy
Break dormancy

USES

Fruit growth (size, bunch length in

grapes)
Parthenocarpy (rice, pear)
Overcoming dormancy
Seed germination (lettuce, tobacco )
Delayed ripening (citrus fruits for
storage)
Malt yield (increase the yield from barley
grains)

CYTOKININS

They are basic in nature

Promote cell division (cytokinesis)
Work alone or with auxin
Discovered by Miller (1955) in coconut water
Skoog gave the term Cytokinins.
They are largely found in roots
From roots they pass upward via xylem
They are synthesized in endosperm of
seeds,growing embryos and developing fruits.

TYPES

First isolated was

ZEATIN (6-hydroxy
3-methyl trans, 2butenyl amino
purine)
Almost 18 types of
Cytokinins are
known
Miller discovered
Kinetin

KINETIN

6-FURFURYLAMINO-PURINE

FUNCTIONS

Cell division
Cell elongation
Morphogenesis
Delay in senescence
Counter action of apical dominance.
Differentiation : Plastid etc
Increase resistance from diseases
Stimulate enzyme activity especially
photosynthesis

SENESCENCE

AGEING OF LEAVES

USES

Tissue culture.
Increasing shelf life of fruits and
vegetables.
Increasing resistance.

ETHYLENE

Gaseous hormone
Stimulates transverse growth
Discovered by Crocker (1935)
Produced in plants from methionine.
Synthesized in all parts of plants.
High auxin conc. also causes
ethylene production

FUNCTIONS

Transverse growth
Inhibition of geotropism
Fruit ripening
Apical dominance
Root initiation (low conc.)
Stimulate senescence
Formation of ABA
Flowering (pineapple)

USES

Ripening of fruits (ethylene lamps)

such as apple, banana, mango etc
Increase in number of fruits by
increasing no. of female flowers
especially in cucumber
Sprouting of storage organs such as
tubers.

Sprouting of Rhizome

ABSCISIC ACID

Mildly acidic
Growth inhibitor
Counter acts all other hormones
First isolated by Addicott (1963)
He named it Abscisin II
Wareing and Cornforth isolated a
substance which induced bud dormancy.
They named it Dormin.
Both abscisin and dormin later were found
to be same and named abscisic acid
(ABA)

Chemical structure of
ABA

FUNCTIONS

the natural process by which

leaves or other parts are shed
from a plant

Dormancy of buds and seeds

Abscission of flowers and fruits
Senescence of leaves by chlorophyll
destruction
Stomata closure ( during
prevents
tinystress,
pore in the outer
layer (epidermis) of a
transpiration)
plant leaf or stem that controls the
passing of water vapour and other gases
Inhibition of germination
into and out of the plant.
Delays flowering
Tuberization in potato.
Enhances rooting
Controlled growth by checking activities of
other hormones

USES

Antitranspirant
Promote rooting of stem cuttings
Prolongs dormancy of buds, seeds
and storage organs
Induce flowering

JASMONIC ACID

3-Oxo-2-pentenylcyclopentaneacetic
acid
It is biosynthesized
from linolenic
acid
A member of the
jasmonate class of
plant hormones.

FUNCTIONS

Growth inhibition,
Senescence
Leaf Abscission
Tuber formation in potatoes, yams, and
onions.
It has an important role in response to
wounding of plants and resistance.
When plants are attacked by insects, they
respond by releasing JA, which inhibits
the insects' ability to digest protein

OTHER HORMONES

Brassinolides :Plant steroids chemically similar to

animal steroid hormones. First isolated from pollen
of the mustard family. They promote cell elongation
and cell division, differentiation of xylem tissues,
and inhibit leaf abscission.Plants found deficient in
brassinolides suffer from dwarfism.
Salicylic acid :In some plants activates genes that
assist in the defense against pathogenic invaders.
Systemin : A polypeptide consisting of 18 amino
acids, functions as a long-distance signal to
activate chemical defenses against herbivores. .
Strigolactones: Implicated in inhibition of shoot
branching.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en. wikipedia . org

P.K.Garg, J.P.Sharma ; Biology; 2007;
Laxmi Publications.

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