<div><p>Background</p><p>Long-stemmed and semi-dwarf cultivars of triticale were exposed to water stress at tillering, heading and anthesis stage. Quantitative determination of free and cell wall-bound polyamines, i.e. agmatine, cadaverine, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, was supplemented with an analysis of quantitative relationships between free and cell wall-bound polyamines.</p><p>Results</p><p>The content of free and cell wall-bound polyamines varied depending on the development stage, both under optimal and water stress conditions. Drought-induced increase in free agmatine content was observed at all developmental stages in long-stemmed cultivar. A depletion of spermidine and putrescine was also reported in this cultivar, and spermidine was less abundant in semi-dwarf cultivar exposed to drought stress at the three analyzed developmental stages. Changes in the content of the other free polyamines did not follow a steady pattern reflecting the developmental stages. On the contrary, the content of cell wall-bound polyamines gradually increased from tillering, through heading and until anthesis period.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Water stress seemed to induce a progressive decrease in the content of free polyamines and an accumulation of cell wall-bound polyamines.</p></div
