Germination inhibitors, seeds abscisic acid

The second example described here is dormant seeds from Rosa canina. Extracts of these seeds also inhibit germination of seeds of several plants (10). In Figure 5 a scheme is given for extraction and separation oF"three different inhibitor compounds. All these are present in the acid fraction. The first essential step is chromatography on Sephadex LH-20, which separates inhibitor I from inhibitor II and III. Inhibitor I was identified as abscisic acid. The other two inhibitors were separated by methylation with diazomethane, fractional distillation, and column chromatography. The second inhibitor is the a-pyrone 1 . Reaction with diazomethane transforms it into the bi-cyclic compound 19. This bicyclic compound is even more active than the parent a-pyrone 1 . Since we sought structural requirements for bioactivity here also,we tested several synthetic a-pyrones ( 0 - 22) for bioactivity. These compounds had no inhibitory activity. We alio tested the cyclopropane derivatives 23 and 24 In Table II, the bioactivity of the bicyclic compound T9 and two such derivatives is compared. The presence of several carboxylic acid groups seems to be essential (or at least helpful) for bioactivity in this case also. 

Abscisic acid is a general plant-growth inhibitor. It induces dormancy and prevents seeds from germinating causes abscission of leaves, fruits, and flowers and causes stomata to close. High concentrations of abscisic acid in guard cells during periods of stress induced by drought probably have a role in stomatal closure. 

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