Effect of kinetin on nucleic acid synthesis in senescing and young leaves in Brassica oleracea L. var. gongylodes L.

In detached kohlrabi leaves senescing in the dark, the decrease in chlorophyll to was more pronounced than in chlorophyll a. The retardation by kinetin of the chlorophyll loss was also markedly stronger in the case of chlorophyll b. Using the fractionation of nucleic acids on polyacrylamide gels it has been shown that during leaf senescence the level of all RNA species decreased, whereas the amount of DNA was more or less constant. In the presence of kinetin, the loss of RNA was inhibited and the incorporation of precursor into the cytoplasmic rRNA as well as into low molecular weight RNA species was supported. Chloroplast rRNA synthesis has not been detected in mature leaves and kinetin showed no effect in this respect. In young expanding leaves detached and kept in light, the synthesis of cytoplasmic rRNA was strongly stimulated by kinetin, whereas in the case of Chloroplast rRNA only an inhibitory effect of kinetin could be found. The results suggest that the cytokinins are primarily involved in processes of the synthesis of cytoplasmic rRNA and low molecular RNA fractions, and in this way affect the development of plastids, in particular the course of their senescence.