In all the three plants selected, viz.,Pongamia, Diospyros andArgeria there appears to be a specific reduction in riboflavin (B₂), niacin, protein, protein nitrogen, soluble nitrogen and total nitrogen contents of gall tissues, thus perhaps indicating that the insect larvae may preferentially feed on these nutrients of the leaf. There also appears to be a general reduction in reducing sugar content although it is not so significant. Increased starch content is noticed inPongamia.

The effect of kinetin and morphactin on flower sex expression has been studied in castor. It was observed that the ratio of female to male flowers was 1:4·75 in control; 1:1·61 in kinetin and 1:3·29 in morphactin treated plants. Although the number of female flowers increased in morphactin-treated plants, the sex ratio did not alter much as there was slight decrease in male flowers. Kinetin elicited an increase in femaleness and decrease in maleness, consequently causing reduction in total number of flowers, compared to control plants. Carbohydrate contents were increased with kinetin and morphactin treatments. Reducing and non-reducing sugars were more in the female flowers than male flowers. Male flowers surpassed female flowers with respect to starch content. Treatments increased total protein and soluble nitrogen in the shoot tips, compared to those of control plants. Total and soluble nitrogen were low whereas protein nitrogen was higher in the pistillate flowers than in the staminate flowers. The modification of sex expression is discussed with respect to carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism.

Kinetin (50 and 100 mg 1−1) inhibited both the shoot and the root growth. Inhibition of root growth by kinetin is considered to be mainly due to inhibition of protein synthesis. Vitamins of the B groupviz., riboflavin, thiamin, niacin and pantothenic acid are found to be antagonistic to kinetin in reversing the inhibition of protein synthesis of the root. Vitamins, probably by acting as inducers of protein synthesis, antagonized the action of kinetin. The response of kinetin to shoot protein content is different from that of the root.

The photosynthetically efficientC₄ plantsviz Amaranthus viridis, Euphorbia hirta and aC₃ plant,Acalypha indica with mosaic leaf pattern showed the maximum amount ofB vitamins when compared to the otherC₃ plants. It is observed that photosynthesis and vitamin synthesis go hand-in-hand showing close correlation. The results also indicate that there is a close relation between chlorophyll content and vitamin content. However, there appears to be no relation between phyllotaxy and photosynthesis. Between the twoC₃ plants,viz., Acalypha andCarica, the photosynthetic inefficiency of the latter might be due to more of chlorophyllb and less of chlorophylla as seen from chlorophylla/chlorophyllb ratios.

Temperature and vitamin-induced changes in root elongation are closely associated with changes in non-reducing sugar content in particular. Thiamine enhanced the reducing sugar content of the shoot and reduced that of the root at normal temperature. In contrast, elevated temperature caused a significant reduction in the reducing sugar content of the shoot and increased that of the root. Thiamine at elevated temperature showed a synergistic effect in decreasing the sugar content of the shoot and increasing it in the root. Although riboflavin could not enhance the reducing sugar content of the shoot at normal temperature, at elevated temperature its response was quite similar to that of thiamine. These differences were partly associated with amylase activity of the root and the shoot. Vitamin treatment preceded by elevated temperature showed synergistic effect with respect to non-reducing sugar content by increasing it in the shoot and the root. The role of vitamins is discussed.