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Bouteloua gracilis was grown in defined, axenic culture with and without vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizae. Leaves and roots of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants were harvested and assayed for cytokinin content using a soybean callus tissue bioassay. Total cytokinin activity was 57 and 111% greater in leaves and roots, respectively, in mycorrhizal over control plants. Cytokinin activities, separated using paper chromatography with water saturated n-butanol as a solvent, doubled in roots and leaves at Rt values of 0.3 and 0.9 and increased 9-fold in roots at an Rt value of 0.1 with infection. This appears to be the first demonstration of altered cytokinin levels in plants resulting from mycorrhizal infection.
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