Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsd!rutgers!sunybcs!kitty!larry
From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Plant Hormones
Summary: Various naturally occuring substances...
Message-ID: <3130@kitty.UUCP>
Date: 30 Apr 89 05:04:00 GMT
References: <17728@cup.portal.com>
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY
Lines: 38

In article <17728@cup.portal.com>, mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:
> When I was in school, there were only five known plant hormones.  I can only
> remember four:  1) florigen, which had been shown to exist through
> experiment, 2) kinetin, which also was only known through its effect, but
> was believed to consist of RNA fragments, 3) auxin, which was known through
> experiment and through discovery of synthetic auxins, and 4) FRH (fruit
> ripening hormone) which was the only hormone whose chemical structure was
> known (it is the 6-atom molecule ethylene).
> 
> Can someone update me on plant hormones?  How many are known to exist?
> If the list is short, please describe their name, chemical structure,
> and effects.

	I'm not big on plants, but I'll see what I can remember...

	The first plant growth hormone that comes to mind is 3-indoleacetic
acid.  This is one variety of auxin, but there are other auxins.  This
substance is not unique to plants; it is also found in urine.

	Another plant growth hormone is gibberellin.  A particular variety of
gibberellin is - what else? - gibberellic acid.

	Another plant growth hormone is 6-furfurylaminopurine, which is also
known as cytokinin or kinetin.

	Another plant growth hormone is abscisic acid, which is a type of
pentadienoic acid.

	I have never heard of FRH (FSH, though :-) ) or florigen.  All of
the above plant growth hormones have different mechanisms of action;
i.e., some stimulate roots, others leafs and stems, etc.  I don't remember
which hormone does what except that cytokinin definitely stimulates
mitosis in both plant and animal cells. 

<>  Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
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