Abstract:

Content change was studied on endogenous hormones and polyamine during development
of male and female flowers of Asparagus officinalis L.‘Champion’. The results showed that GA3 content
in female flowers was constantly higher than that in male. ABA，ZR and IAA contents decreased in female
flowers from hermaphroditic stage to unisexual stage，while ABA，ZR and IAA contents in male flowers
increased rapidly from hermaphroditic stage to unisexual stage. Ratios of GA3/ABA，GA3/IAA and
GA3/ZR at hermaphroditic stage were lower in female flowers than that in male flowers，however they
increased rapidly at unisexual stage. These results indicated that higher level of GA3 and lower level of
ABA，IAA and ZR were related to the development of female organ and higher level of ABA，ZR and IAA
were related to the development of male organ in asparagus. Spd，Put and Spm contents increased rapidly
and then decreased during development of female flowers，but they remained stable in male flowers.
Higher level of Spm，Spd and Put might be related to the development of female organ.

Key words: Asparagus officinalis, sex differentiation, endogenous hormones, polyamine