Gibberellins and stem growth in Arabidopsis thaliana - Effects of photoperiod on expression of the GA4 and GA5 loci

Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. is a quantitative long-day (LD) rosette plant in which stem growth is mediated by gibberellins (GAs). Application of GAs to plants in short-day (SD) conditions resulted in rapid stem elongation and flower formation, with GA(4) and GA(9) being equally effective, and GA(1) showing lower activity. The effects of photoperiod on the levels of endogenous GAs were measured by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring. When plants were transferred from SD to LD conditions there was a slight decrease in the level of GA(53) and an increase in the levels of C-19-GAs, GA(9), GA(20), GA(1), and GA(8), indicating that GA 20-oxidase activity is stimulated in LD conditions. Expression of GA5, which encodes GA 20-oxidase, was highest in elongating stems and was correlated with the rate of stem elongation. By contrast, GA4, which encodes 3 beta-hydroxylase, showed low expression in stems and its expression was not correlated with the rate of stem elongation. We conclude that stem elongation in LD conditions is at least in part due to increased expression of GA5, whereas expression of GA4 is not under photoperiodic control.