THE ROLE OF JASMONIC ACID AND RELATED-COMPOUNDS IN THE REGULATION OF PLANT DEVELOPMENT

This chapter reviews the roles of jasmonic acid (JA) and related compounds in the regulation of plant development. JA-related compounds are widely distributed among higher plants and are potent inducers of expression of several genes, such as the genes of proteinase inhibitor in tomato plants and the genes of vegetative storage proteins in soybean plants. JA is synthesized from linolenic acid by a series of enzymes. The initial reaction in JA synthesis is catalyzed by lipoxygenase, which is a common enzyme in plant tissues. JA-related compounds are easily extracted from plant materials by methanol, ethanol, or acetone. The material should be homogenized immediately after harvest with sufficient solvent to prevent the enzymatic changes of the compounds. JA has four stereoisomers because of the presence of two chiral carbons at the C-1 and C-2 positions of a cyclopentane ring. Maslenkova et al. examined the effect of JA on the oxygen-evolving activity of chloroplasts isolated from barley leaves. The kinetics characteristics of oxygen evolution indicated that JA decreased the value of the total number of oxygen-evolving centers. JA affects the degree of structuring of the granal region or the structural integrity of the electron transport chain in barley chloroplasts. © 1992 Academic Press Inc.