PHYTOHORMONES

PRESENTED BY:- SHIYAS

 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
a tissue or organ in the earliest
stage of embryonic
 Natural Auxins :- development, found when the
dividing cells in the fertilized
 Phytohormones ovum first differentiate .

 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,
root tips etc. NODE:the place on a
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, 2-butenyl
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
 Dormancy of buds and seeds from a plant

 Abscission of flowers and fruits

 Senescence of leaves by chlorophyll destruction
 Stomata closure ( during stress, prevents transpiration)
 Inhibition of germination tiny pore in the outer layer (epidermis) of
a plant leaf or stem that controls the
 Delays flowering passing of water vapour and other gases
into and out of the plant.
 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-pentenyl-
cyclopentaneacetic 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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