EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF CAMP IN LILY PLANT FLOWER TISSUES

A specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) has been developed for the quantitat ive measurement of the cAMP content of floral organs of Lilium cv. Con necticut. Significant quantities of cAMP were detected in and around t he stigma (highest specific activity), style, ovaries and anthers, but not in the tepals or filaments. The specificity of the method was est ablished by treating the extract of the upper part of the style (inclu ding the stigma) with bovine spleen phosphodiesterase. This led to a 5 0% loss of the cAMP content of the extract. Variations in the cAMP con tent of this organ were also observed 30 min after flower self-pollina tion and 90 min after tepal wounding. The presence of cAMP in the lily flower was confirmed by measuring the adenylyl cyclase activity in th e membrane fraction of an extract of the upper part of a style (includ ing the stigma). This activity was stimulated by forskolin and alumini um fluoride salts. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.