Growth Inhibitors

substances that retard the growth of plants (suppress the opening of buds, germination of seeds, and growth of the stem).

Natural growth inhibitors accumulate in large quantities in the tissues of buds and seeds in autumn, when the growth processes cease in the transition of the plant to a dormant state. In the spring, before the opening of buds and germination of seeds, the content of growth inhibitors decreases sharply. Among the natural growth inhibitors are phenolic compounds (coumarin and its derivatives, salicyclic acid, naringenin) and terpenoid compounds (abscissic acid and its analogs). Growth inhibitors are capable of suppressing the stimulatory effect of all known phytohormones on growth processes. Synthetic growth inhibitors are used to treat plants for the purpose of retarding their growth; they include antagonists to auxin transport (tri-iodobenzoic acid, dichloranisol, naphthylmethylpropionic acid), retardants that suppress stem growth (SSS, AMO-1618, V-9), morphactins that disrupt morphogenesis (fluorenol, chlorfluorenol), and paralyzers (maleic hydrazide, sodium salt of maleic hydrazide).