Covalent Insertion of N6-Benzyladenine into rRNA Species of Tobacco Cells

The fact that cytokinins were recognized as adenine analogs early raised the question of their incorporation into plant RNA (Fox, 1966). The conversion of exogenous cytokinin bases to their corresponding nucleoside-5′-triphosphates was demonstrated later by Laloue et al. (1974); it provided biochemical support for the possible insertion of cytokinin nucleotides into polyribonucleotide chains.