Chemical differences between wildtype and gibberellin mutants of tomato determined by pyrolysis‐mass spectrometry

Leaf, stem and root material of wild‐type and gibberellin (GA)‐deficient mutants of tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum L.) were analysed by pyrolysis‐mass spectrometry for possible differentiation in chemical allocation pattern among cell wall and cytoplasm. GA‐deficiency is accompanied by changes in the relative growth rate (RGR). RGR‐correlated changes were found in leaves in the comparative amounts of cellulose‐ and protein‐derived fragments. The low‐RGR genotypes contained more protein and nucleic acid, the high‐RGR ones more cellulose. In root material, a higher contribution of cellulose, hemicellulose and G‐ and S‐lignin was found for the lower‐RGR plants and comparatively high protein in the high‐RGR genotypes. For stems, less clear results were obtained, possibly because of variation in the ratio of syringyl‐ and guaiacyl‐lignin. Part of the results might be explained by a GA‐dependent change in cell size.