Plants tend to acclimatize to unfavourable environs by integrating growth and development to environmentally activated signals. Phytohormones strongly regulate convergent developmental and stress adaptive procedures and synchronize cellular reaction to the exogenous and endogenous conditions within the adaptive signaling networks. Gibberellins (GA), a group of tetracyclic diterpenoids, being vital regulators of plant growth, are accountable for regulating several aspects of growth and development of higher plants. If the element of reproduction is considered as an absolute requisite then for a majority of the higher plants GA signaling is simply indispensable. Latest reports have revealed unique conflicting roles of GA and other phytohormones in amalgamating growth and development in plants through environmental signaling. Numerous physiological researches have detailed substantial crosstalk between GA and other hormones like abscisic acid, auxin, cytokinin, and jasmonic acid. In this review, a number of explanations and clarifications for this discrepancy are explored based on the crosstalk among GA and other phytohormones.
Tubers of safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) were immersed in three different concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3) or humic acid (HA) prior to planting. The highest concentration of GA3 (20 mg L(-1)) and all concentrations of HA (5, 10, and 15%) appeared to hasten tuber sprouting and promote uniform sprouting pattern. The use of 20 mg L(-1) GA3 or 15% HA successfully improved sprouting and mean sprouting time. Safed musli growth and development was improved through the increase in the number of leaves, total leaf area, leaf area index, and total fibrous root length. This directly influenced the number of new tubers formed. The use of 20 mg L(-1) GA3 or 15% HA gave similar response with nonsignificant difference among them. However, due to the cost of production, the result from this study suggests that 15% HA should be used to obtain improved sprouting percentage, homogeneous stand establishment, efficient plant growth and development, and increased yield of safed musli.
Oil palm is one of the most productive oil-producing crops and can store up to 90% oil in its fruit mesocarp. Oil palm fruit is a sessile drupe consisting of a fleshy mesocarp from which palm oil is extracted. Biochemical changes in the mesocarp cell walls, polyamines, and hormones at different ripening stages of oil palm fruits were studied, and the relationship between the structural and the biochemical metabolism of oil palm fruits during ripening is discussed. Time-course analysis of the changes in expression of polyamines, hormones, and cell-wall-related genes and metabolites provided insights into the complex processes and interactions involved in fruit development. Overall, a strong reduction in auxin-responsive gene expression was observed from 18 to 22 weeks after pollination. High polyamine concentrations coincided with fruit enlargement during lipid accumulation and latter stages of maturation. The trend of abscisic acid (ABA) concentration was concordant with GA₄ but opposite to the GA₃ profile such that as ABA levels increase the resulting elevated ABA/GA₃ ratio clearly coincides with maturation. Polygalacturonase, expansin, and actin gene expressions were also observed to increase during fruit maturation. The identification of the master regulators of these coordinated processes may allow screening for oil palm variants with altered ripening profiles.