The leaves of 29-d-old plants of Brassica juncea Czern & Coss cv. Varuna were sprayed with 10-6 or 10-8 M aqueous solutions of indole-3-yl-acetic acid (IAA) or its substituted derivatives 4-Cl-IAA, 7-Cl-IAA, and 4,7-Cl2-IAA. All the auxins improved the vegetative growth and seed yield at harvest compared with those sprayed with de-ionised water (control). 4-Cl-IAA was most prominent in its effect, generating 21.6, 39.7, 61.0, 35.0, 65.5, and 56.2% higher values for dry mass, leaf chlorophyll content, carbonic anhydrase (E.C. 4.2.1.1) and nitrate reductase (E.C. 1.6.6.1) activities, net photosynthetic rate, and carboxylation efficiency, respectively, in 60-d-old plants. It also enhanced the seed yield by 31.1% over the control. The order of response of the plants to various auxins was 4-Cl IAA ≥ 7-Cl IAA > 4,7-Cl2 IAA = IAA > control.
Surface sterilised seeds of mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek cv. T-44) were soaked in 0, 10-8, 10-6, or 10-4 M aqueous solution of 28-homobrassinolide (HBR) for 4, 8, or 12 h. The treated seeds were grown in sandy loam soil filled in earthen pots and sampled at 30, 40, and 50 d. Net photosynthetic rate, leaf chlorophyll content, carbonic anhydrase activity (E.C. 4.2.1.1), carboxylation efficiency, stomatal conductance, and seed yield at harvest were enhanced by the HBR treatment. The best combination was the pre-sowing seed treatment with 10-6 M HBR for 8 h. and Q. Fariduddin, A. Ahmad, S. Hayat.