Gibberellins

What are they? The gibberellins make up a family of small organic compounds derived from a common 20-carbon precursor. They regulate growth and development in plants and their chemical structure superficially resembles that of steroid hormones. So far, more than 100 gibberellins have been identified. Fortunately, any one plant species produces only a few of the known gibberellins. Furthermore, only one or two of those gibberellins will typically be biologically active, with the remainder being either precursors or inactivated versions.