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Colchicine, 'Phytocarcinomata' and Plant Hormones

Abstract

COLCHICINE has been shown to produce a bulbous hypertrophy of the root tips and coleoptile of wheat seedlings1. In these swellings, the appearance of the mitotic figures closely resembles those found in certain organs of animals treated with colchicine, and also in malignant tumours of animals2,3. In this respect, the action of colchicine appears to be similar to that of B. tumefaciens, which causes the 'phytocarcinomata'. On the other hand, A. P. Dustin4, Amoroso5 and Peyron et al6 have claimed that colchicine inhibits the growth of malignant tumours in animals.

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References

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  2. Dustin, A. P., Havas, L., and Lits, F., Réunion Assoc. Anatomistes, Marseille, 1937.

  3. Dustin, A. P., Arch. port. sci. biol., 5, 38 (1936).

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  4. Dustin, A. P., Bull. Acad. roy. méd. de Belgique, 14, 487 (1934).

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  5. Amoroso, E. C., NATURE, 135, 266 (Feb. 16, 1935).

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HAVAS, L. Colchicine, 'Phytocarcinomata' and Plant Hormones. Nature 140, 191–192 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140191b0

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