Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the evolution of the content and degree of conjugation of polyamines in Caribbean pine materials of different ages in in vitro culture. Local and total concentrations of endogenous polyamine were studied in the apical and basal portions of Pinus caribaea micro-stems by means of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. The origin of micro-stems corresponded to embryonary, juvenile, and adult re-invigorated material. Significant differences were found in the endogenous content of polyamines, depending on ontogenetic development. However, it was shown that there are no differences between juvenile micro-stems and re-invigorated adult, with respect to the total polyamine content and the individual polyamines content. The latter are higher in embryonic tissue than in juvenile tissues and those from re-invigorated adults, which showed similar values. Both in the free as in the soluble conjugated fractions, putrescine and spermine are the most abundant polyamines in all the materials analyzed. The results allow to infer that the individual process of maturation-aging could be influenced by specific changes that take place during the metabolism of polyamines.