Brassinosteroids, a New Class of Plant Hormones

Abstract

Brassinosteroids are plant-growth-promoting natural products similar in structure to animal steroid hormones. A study was conducted to examine the activity of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) in inclusion complex with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) in the rice lamina inclination bioassay. Using computational calcns., it was possible to find a preference for inclusion of the EBL mol. to form a 1:1 inclusion complex. Preliminary results show that complexation of brassinosteroids with cyclodextrins can be a promising tool in agricultural applications of brassinosteroids. [on SciFinder(R)]