Summary. cDNA clones for an S-allele, designated $5, of the self-incompatibility locus (S-locus) of Lycopersicon peruvianum have been isolated by probing a pistil cDNA library with cDNAs for S-alleles of Petunia inflata and Solanum chacoense. The longest Ss-cDNA is 869 bp and contains an open reading frame of 217 amino acids. An alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of Ss-protein with that of the 18 S-proteins from five other solanaceous species is presented. Sequence comparison further refines the primary structural features of the S-proteins previously revealed from comparison of subsets of these sequences. Based on this comparison and evidence presented elsewhere, it is proposed that accumulation of point mutations, and not intragenic recombination, is responsible for the generation of new allelic specificities.

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The effects of root applications of gibberellic acid (GA3) on growth and photosynthesis of 12 species of plants including C3 monocots (Triticum aestivum L., wheat, Hordeum vulgare L., barley and Avena sativa L., oat), C3 dicots (Vigna radiata L., mung bean, Cucurbita moschata L., squash and Capsicum annuum L., pepper), C4 monocots (Zea mays L., corn, Sorghum vulgare L., sorghum and Panicum ramosum L., millet) and C4 dicots (Amaranthus retroflexus L., pigweed, Kochia scoparis L., kochia and Gomphrena celosoides L., gomphrena) were evaluated. Relative growth rates (RGR) of barley, oat, squash, pepper, corn, sorghum, millet, pigweed and kochia were increased above the control by 12.7%, 9.9%, 11.3%, 10.7%, 19.2% 10.1%, 11.5%, 16.4% and 32.7% respectively, four days following optimum GA3 treatments. There was no effect of GA3 on RGR in wheat, mung bean, and gomphrena. Gibberellic acid decreased the chlorophyll content expressed on an area basis by 20.0%, 13.9%, 20.9%, 17.1%, 11.9% and 28.0% in barley, squash, pepper, sorghum, pigweed and kochia, respectively, while that of oat, wheat, mung bean, corn, millet and gomphrena remained unchanged. When photosynthetic rates were expressed per mg of chlorophyll, it showed that GA3 could stimulate photosynthesis in barley, squash, pepper, sorghum, millet, pigweed and kochia by 20.4%, 20.6%, 16.5%, 17.4%, 10.4%, 24.2%, and 29.4%; while there was no effect in oat, wheat, mung bean, corn and gomphrena. An increase in leaf blade area and/or length of sheath were observed in GA3 treated plants of oat, barley, mung bean, squash, pepper, corn, sorghum, millet and kochia. The transpiration rate remained unchanged following GA3 treatment in all 12 species.

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A defective S-allele, S(o), and a functional S-allele, Sx, have previously been found to be retained in an F1 hybrid of a self-compatible commercial cultivar of Petunia hybrida. Pistil proteins associated with these two alleles have also been identified. Their amino-terminal sequences have been found to share a high degree of similarity with those of S-proteins characterized from self-incompatible solanaceous species. Here we report the isolation and sequencing of cDNAs encoding S(o)- and Sx-proteins. Their deduced amino acid sequences contain all the consensus primary structural features of S-proteins from self-incompatible solanaceous species. Both proteins also have ribonuclease activity. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the presumed function of the S-protein in the self-incompatibility interaction.

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