Abstract
It is known that dormancy of the genus Dioscorea is induced by application of gibberellin (GA) A(3). To understand the role of GAs in dormancy induction, endogenous GAs have been identified by Kovats retention indices and full mass spectra from capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of purified extract from dormant bulbils of Dioscorea opposita Thunb. These include GA(4), GA(9), GA(12), GA(19), GA(20), GA(24), GA(36), and GA(53); their presence suggests the occurrence of two biosynthetic pathways in D. opposita bulbils, the early 13-hydroxylation pathway and the non-13-hydroxylation pathway.