Contribution of sepals and gibberellin treatments to growth and development of rose (Rosa hybrida) flowers

The fresh weight of sepals during the development of the rose flowerbuds from 4 mm to 22 mm in diameter increased fromabout 30 mg to ca. 350 mg. However, due to a morerapid gain in the total fresh weight of the flower, the sepal fresh weight as aproportion of the total weight of the buds decreased from about 55% to only 8%at the end of the measurement period. The net photosynthesis of sepals,measuredclose to the flower harvest, was approximately 60% of that in the youngest,uppermost leaves whereas no photosynthesis occured in the petals. Theconcentration of sucrose in petals of almost fully developed, desepalledflowerswas 15% lower in comparison with the control flowers with intact sepals. On theother hand, the concentration of sucrose in petals of control and desepalledflowers that were kept for 10 days in complete darkness was equal, reachingabout 50% of the concentration in petals of flowers grown in the light.Periodicmeasurements of reducing sugars in the petals did not show differences in theirconcentration between the control and desepalled flowers during the first 8daysafter sepal removal. After an additional four days the concentration ofreducingsugars in petals of the desepalled flowers was only 50% in comparison to thatinpetals of control flowers. Excising the sepals reduced fresh and dry weights,aswell as the length of buds and the peduncles, indicating that sepals may be asource of gibberellins during flower development. Treatment with50mg GA3 in lanolin paste, completely restored thelength of the peduncles, but only partially restored the other measuredparameters of the flowers. Formation of 'star-shape' abnormality indesepalled flowers, which is a common phenomenon in rose flowers exposed toexternal ethylene was completelly prevented by applying GA3 afterthesepals were excisied. This supported the previously suggested hypothesis aboutthe flinction of gibberellins in reducing the sensitivity of rose flower organsto ethylene.