Abstract
One of the Japanese cedars, Cryptomeria japonica, can be induced to form reproductive organs upon growth regulator applications, temperature shifts and photoperiod manipulations. Two- and 3-year-old saplings of C. japonica remained dormant when maintained at 15C with the 8 hour photoperiod. When these saplings were treated with GA3 (100ppm or 500ppm) and kept in the same condition for 7 weeks and then transferred to the condition, 20/15C (day/night) with a natural photoperiod, in November, reproductive organs appeared after the vegetative growth. In order to establish an experimental system for the molecular analyses of epigenetics of the reproductive process, the location of the reproductive organs on the saplings was examined to locate the sites of induction. The effect of another condition, 30/25C (day/night) with a natural photoperiod, was also studied. The reproductive induction process will be discussed based on the male/female cone distribution in the branches of the saplings.
