CHAPTER

12 Plant Growth and Development

Growth ™ Conditions for Growth Include: water, oxygen, nutrients

™ Growth is a characteristic of living beings in which an and optimum temperature.
irreversible permanent increase in size of an organ or its parts ™ Differentiation: In this process, cells derived from root
occur or even of an individual cell. apical and shoot apical meristems and cambium differentiate
™ Plant growth is generally indeterminate due to capacity of and mature to perform specific functions.
unlimited growth throughout the life. ™ Dedifferentiation-Process in which living differentiated cells
™ Root apical meristem and shoot apical meristem are regain their capacity to divide
responsible for primary growth and elongation of plant body ™ Redifferentiation-Dedifferentiated cells are able to divide
along the axis. Lateral meristem activity leads to increase in and produce cells that once again lose the capacity to
girth of plants. divide but mature to perform specific functions, i.e., get
Growth is Measurable redifferentiated.
™ It is increase in fresh weight, dry weight, length, area, and Development – changes in an organism during its life cycle.
volume and cell number. ™ Plasticity – different kinds of structure in response to
Phases of Growth environment or phases of life. Eg. Heteropylly in cotton and
™ Meristematic phase-the phase of cell formation or cell
coriander. In these plants, leaves have different shapes based
division. It occurs at root apex, shoot apex and other on the phase of life cycle as well as the habitat.
meristematic region. ™ Development = growth + differentiation
™ Phase of elongation-cells undergo enlargement. Enlarging ™ Development is controlled by Intrinsic ( Genetic factors and
cells develop vacuoles, increase in volume and develop new plant growth regulators) and Extrinsic (light, temperature,
cell walls. water, oxygen).
™ Phase of maturation- the enlarged cells undergoing structural
and physiological differentiation. Plant Growth Regulators / Phytohormones
™ Characteristics- PGRs are small, simple molecules of diverse
Growth Rates
chemical composition.They could be indole compounds IAA,
™ Growth rate can be defined as the increase in growth per unit
adenine derivatives (kinetin), derivatives of carotenoids
time.
(abscisic acid), terpenes (gibberellic acid) or gases (ethylene)
Plants Show Two Types of Growth
The Discovery of Plant Growth Regulators
™ Arithmetic Growth: Only one daughter cell continues to
divide while others differentiate or mature. It is found in root ™ Auxin was isolated by F.W. Went from tips of coleoptiles of
and shoot elongation. oat seedlings.
™ Represented as Lt = L0 + rt, where, Lt = length at time ‘t’, ™ E. Kurosawa identified gibberellins present in a fungal
L0 = length at time ‘zero’, r = growth rate/elongation per unit pathogen Gibberella fujikuroi
time ™ During mid-1960s, three researches reported the purification
™ Geometric Growth: Initial growth is slow (lag phase), and chemical characterisation of inhibitor-B, abscission II
followed by a rapid increase in growth (log/exponential and dormin. Later all were proved to be chemically identical.
phase), and followed by a phase where growth slows down
It was named ABA.
(stationary phase). Example − all cells, tissues and organs
show this type of growth. ™ Cytokinins- Skoog and Miller crystallized cytokinesis promoting
™ Represented as W1 = W0 + ert, where, W1 = final size,
active substance named kinetin.
W0 = initial size at the beginning of the period, r = growth ™ Cousins confirmed the release of a volatile substance from
rate, t = time of growth, e = base of natural logarithms ripened oranges and was identified as ethylene.
Physiological Effects of Plant Growth Regulators ™ Abscisic Acid: Also called stress hormone. General plant
™ Auxins- Initiate rooting in stem cuttings, promote flowering growth and metabolism inhibitor. Inhibits seed germination,
in pineapple, prevent fruit and leaf drop, promote abscission stimulates the closure of stomata, plays an important role in
seed development, maturation and dormancy, helps seeds
of older mature leaves, Induce parthenocarpy in tomatoes,
to withstand desiccation and other factors unfavourable for
widely used as herbicides (2,4 – D), kill weeds, Controls growth. In most situations, ABA acts as an antagonist to GAs.
xylem differentiation and helps in cell division, used in tea ™ Photoperiodism- It is the response of plants to periods of
plantations, hedge-making, induce parthenocarpy in tomatoes day/night
™ Gibberellins- Increase in length of grape stalks, cause apple ™ Some plants require periodic exposure to light to induce
fruits to elongate and improve its shape, delay senescence, flowering. Duration of dark period is equally important for
speed up malting process in brewing industry, increases flowering.
length of stem in sugarcane, hastens maturity period in ™ Long Day Plants − Plants that require exposure to light for a
juvenile conifers, Promotes bolting in beet and cabbage. period exceeding critical duration to induce flowering.
™ Short Day Plants − Plants that require exposure to light for a
™ Cytokinins- Produce new leaves, chloroplasts in leaves,
period less than this critical period to induce flowering.
lateral shoot growth and adventitious shoot formation, Help
™ Day Neutral Plants − Plants where there is no correlation
overcome apical dominance, Promote nutrient mobilization
between exposure to light duration and induction of flowering.
which helps in the delay of leaf senescence.
™ Vernalization- It is the phenomenon of dependence of
™ Ethylene- Promotes senescence and abscission of leaves flowering on exposure to low temperature. It prevents
and flowers, highly effective in fruit ripening, enhances the precocious reproductive development late in the growing
respiration rate, breaks seed and bud dormancy, initiates season, and enables the plant to have sufficient time to reach
germination in peanut seeds, sprouting potato tubers, induces maturity.
flowering in mango, hastens fruit ripening in tomatoes, petiole
Seed Dormancy
elongation in deep water rice plants, synchronising fruit set
™ A condition in which seeds are unable to germinate in
in pineapples, abscission in flowers and fruits and thinning conditions that are favorable for their germination and in
of cotton, cherry and walnut, promote female flowers in which its development, growth, and numerous other activities
cucumber. are temporarily stopped.

P
W Plant Growth and Development 25