Gibberellic and Abscisic Acid-like Substances and the Regulation of Apple Shoot Extension1

Shoots on interstem-dwarfed apple ( Malus domestica Borkh.) trees ceased growing earlier and showed a stronger tendency towards becoming summer dormant than did corresponding shoots on vigorous trees. Substances similar to gibberellic acid (GA3) and abscisic acid (ABA) were extracted from 1-year-old stems at 7 stages during the growing season using the centrifugation technique. ABA-like activity was higher in stems from dwarf than vigorous trees at full bloom, and remained higher until after the onset of summer dormancy. GA-like activity also was significantly higher in dwarf tree stems at the tight flower cluster stage. Injection experiments demonstrated that increasing ABA concn decreased terminal elongation in a linear manner. ABA-induced inhibition was reduced in direct proportion to the concn of GA3 in the injected solution.