A Rice Lamina Inclination Test-A Micro-quantitative Bioassay for Brassinosteroids

Abstract

A rice lamina inclination test that is simple and specific for brassinosteroids was used as a micro-quantitative bioassay for brassinolide 1 and its 6-keto congener, castasterone 2, in the concentration range of 5 x l0-5μg/ml to 5 x 10-3μg/ml, when uniform seedlings of the rice cultivars Arborio J-l and Nihonbare were selected. A phytohormone, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), showed similar activity in this bioassay. Its lowest effective concentration, however, was 50 μg/ml, about five orders of magnitude greater than that of brassinolide. Other phytohormones, abscisic acid (ABA) and the cytokinins kinetin and A6-benzyladenine, inhibited the lamina inclination of rice seedlings. The addition of a cytokinin reduced the promoting effect of brassinolide. Thus, the rice lamina inclination test can be used both as a micro-quantitative bioassay for brassinosteroids and as a method for detecting antibrassinolide compounds. © 1984, Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. All rights reserved.