African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (24), pp. 2792-2802, 17 December 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Effects of plant hormones and 20-hydroxyecdysone on tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) seed germination and seedlings growth

Ahmed Bakrim, Mostapha Lamhamdi, Fouad Sayah and Fatiha Chibi*

Pôle d’excellence Régional- Centre des Etudes Environnementales Méditerranéennes. Laboratoire de Biologie Appliquée et Sciences de l’Environnement. Université Abdelmalek Essaadi. Faculté des Sciences et Techniques. BP : 416. Tanger. Maroc.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: fatchibi@hotmail.com. Tel:   00 212 39 39 39 54/5. Fax: 00 212 39 39 39 53.

Accepted 8 November, 2007

20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) is the major phytoecdysteroid of about 6% of plants. Its role in plant physiology has not been fully elucidated. In this work we studied the effects of 20E application on some morphological and biochemical parameters of tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum, seed during germination and seedling development (5 d). We compared the 20E effects with the action of phytohormones: gibberellic acid (GA₃), naftalen acetic acid (NAA), benzyl amino purine (BAP). NAA treatment resulted in marked reduction in shoot length. GA₃ treatment promoted maximal shoot elongation. BAP affected negatively shoot length only at late stages, while 20E application stimulated shoot elongation at early stages and reduced it on the fifth day; NAA inhibited root elongation all along the test period. GA₃ treatment had no effect on root length, whereas BAP showed strong inhibition on root elongation. On the other hand, 20E showed a weak inhibition of root elongation on the fifth day. As compared to control and to other treatments, NAA and 20E provoked a drastic decrease in protein contents during seedling growth, whereas a high increase was observed under BAP treatment. Electrophoresis revealed that protein bands were not degraded and mobilized after NAA treatment while in control or after 20E and others phytohormones applications, protein patters displayed weak band intensities and some of them were not detected. NAA, GA₃ and BAP provoked a decrease in proline content during seedlings, while the effect of 20E on proline levels varied during germination and plantlet development. This work showed that 20E like phytohormones fulfil some bioactive actions during germination and seedlings growth in tomato.

Key words: Benzyl amino purine, gibberellic acid, 20-hydroxyecdysone, germination, Lycopersicum esculentum seeds, naftalen acetic acid, proline, protein pattern.