ABSTRACT
Plant biochemical regulators such as dichlorophenylether (DCPTA) may also control the physiological and biochemical functions of many plant species. These functions may be manifested in terms of cellular protective systems, source-sink relationships or many other biochemical effects. The tertiary amine bioregulator DCPTA does not induce leaf epinastic effects, does not function merely by increasing plant size, does not conform to the bioassay techniques that are commonly used for plant growth regulators, but does have a multiple rather than a single enzyme effect. Under conditions of low carbon dioxide concentrations and high light intensities, the photosynthetic process within chloroplasts may sometimes be reversed—oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide is produced, or the net efficiency of carbon fixation is reduced. In controlled-temperature incubation experiments during 1983 and 1984, DCPTA appeared to have the potential to biochemically manipulate the root growth of cotton plants.
