Morphogenesis, pigment content, phytohormones and yield of tomatoes under the action of gibberellin and tebuconazole

Abstract

One of the main tasks of contemporary plant physiology is regulation of growth and development of cultivated plants in order to optimize the productive process. The scientific community focuses its attention on the use of natural activators and growth inhibitors. We investigated the effect of foliar treatment with 0.005% solution of gibberellic acid and 0.025% solution of the anti-gibberellic preparation tebuconazole on morphogenesis, leaf mesostructure, content of photosynthetic pigments, balance of endogenous phytobrybrides and lymphocyte B and productivity of tomatoes. The vegetation experiment was carried out in the conditions of soil-sand culture in vessels with a 10-liter volume. The treatment was carried out in the budding phase. Morphometric parameters were measured every 10 days. The mesostructure of the middle tier leaves was studied in the fruit formation phase, and the chlorophyll content was determined in the raw material by spectrophotometric method. Analytical determination of endogenous phytohormones – indolyl-3-acetic (IAA), gibberellic acid and abscisic (ABA) acids and cytokinins – zeatin (Z), zeatin-O-glucoside (ZG), zeatinribozide (Znila) and isopentenyladenosine (iPA) was performed by high performance liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). With gibberellic acid treatment plant height increased significantly, while with tebuconazole it decreased. Gibberellic acid increased the number of leaves per plant, and tebuconazole did not change it. The preparations increased the number of leaf blades per leaf, the total number of leaf blades per plant, the weight of the raw material of leaves, the area of leaf blades and the area of the leaves at the end of the study period. The dry matter weight of stems and roots under the action of gibberellic acid increased, and during the treatment of tebuconazole decreased. Gibberellic acid increased the dry matter of the whole plant, and tebuconazole did not change it. Under the action of tebuconazole the content of chlorophyll in the leaves increased, while under the action of gibberellic acid it decreased. Both regulators increased the volume of columnar parenchyma cells. Gibberellic acid increased the size of spongy parenchyma cells, while tebuconazole did not change them. It is revealed that the action of exogenous gibberellic acid in stems and leaves increased the content of endogenous IAA and gibberellic acid, and tebuconazole decreased their content. The ABA content in stems and leaves increased with tebuconazole treatments and decreased with exogenous gibberellic acid. The total cytokinin content in the leaves was higher than in the stems in both the control and the experiment samples. Growth regulators induced an increase in the cytokinin pool in leaves and a decrease in stems. Gibberellic acid increased the content of all five forms of cytokinins in the leaves, and tebuconazole increased only two isoforms. In the stems under the action of both growth regulators the content of Z decreased and iP increased. The content of ZR and iPA in stems increased after the application of the retardant and decreased under the action of growth stimulant. The ZG content exceeded the control after gibberellic acid treatment and was in trace concentrations under the action of tebuconazole. Growth regulators optimized the productivity of tomato plants: under the action of gibberellic acid there was a considerable increase in the number of fruits per plant, and after the use of tebuconazole the average weight of one fruit significantly increased. The obtained results demonstrated that anatomical-morphological and structural-functional rearrangements in tomato plants under the action of exogenous gibberellic acid and tebuconazole occurred against the background of changes in the balance and distribution of endogenous hormones. Increased photosynthetic activity, stimulation of growth processes of some plant organs and inhibition of others increased the biological crop capacity.