Identification of Auxins in a Commercial Seaweed Concentrate

Compounds active in the mung bean rooting bioassay were isolated from the neutral indole fraction of a commercial seaweed concentrate by high performance liquid chromatography. A gas-chromatographicmass spectrometric analysis of the most active fractions indicated the presence of the following indoles: indole-3-acetic acid; indole-3-carboxylic acid; N,N-dimethyltryptamine; indole-3-aldehyde; and in addition, iso-indole,1,3-dione (N-hydroxyethyl phthalimide). This appears to be the first report of an indole amine and a phthalimide in algae. Attempts are currently being made to determine the efficacy of these compounds individually, and in combination, in the mung bean bioassay. © 1992, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart. All rights reserved.