PLANT GROWTH AND

DEVELOPMENT- CLASS XI ISC

1
PLANT GROWTH
PLANT
GROWTH

INDEFINITE DEFINITE

Roots,stems Leaves,flowers
and branches and fruits
2
…continued
 The first step to the process of plant
growth is seed germination
 It is one of the most fundamental and
conspicuous characteristics of living
organisms
 It is the net result of various processes
that together cause an irreversible
permanent increase in the size of of an
organ or its parts
3
…continued
 Growth is accompanied by anabolism and
catabolism that occur in the body at the
expense of energy
 It is intrinsic or internal
 It is generally indeterminate
 This is due to meristems
 Cells derived from meristems grow in
size, differentiate and form the bulk of the
plant body
4
…continued
 Growth by meristematic activity is called
open form of growth
 Apical shoot, root meristems and
intercalary meristems cause primary
growth
 In dicotyledons and gymnosperms the
lateral meristems, vascular cambium and
cork cambium appear later in life but are
indeterminate causing secondary growth

5
INDETERMINATE MERISTEMS DETERMINATE MERISTEMS

 Root apical meristem,  The intercalary meristem

shoot apical meristem, and present in leaf and flower
lateral meristem are active primordia has a short
throughout the life of the period of activity and is
plant and are thus consumed in the formation
indeterminate meristems of organs and is thus of the
determinate type

MERISTEMS
6
7
UNLIMITED GROWTH IN A WOODY PERENNIAL

8
PHASES OF PLANT GROWTH

Meristematic Elongation or Maturation or

or formative enlargement differentiation

9
FORMATIVE PHASE
 Phase of cell formation or division
 Occurs at the root apex, shoot apex and
other regions with meristematic tissues
 New cells are produced by Mitosis
 Rate of cellular respiration is very high
 Some daughter cells retain the capacity to
divide while the others enter the next
growth phase
 Due to the increase in the cell number the
areas where divisions occur show some
growth

10
PHASE OF ELONGATION OR
ENLARGEMENT
 Cells formed in the formative phase enlarge
 Cell walls grow by deposition of new cell wall
materials
 A central vacuole appears
 At this stage some protoplasm is added
 In isodiametric cells there is significant growth
axially so that roots and stems elongate, though
they enlarge in all directions
 This phase corresponds to the exponential phase
 Rate of respiration is high but lesser than in the
previous phase

11
PHASE OF DIFFERENTIATION
 Cell wall grows in thickness and gradually
undergoes structural and physiological
changes as per its location
 Formation of root hair, elongation of
xylem and phloem fibres, guard cells of
stomatal apparatus, cutinisation of
epidermis, chloroplasts in mesophyll,
suberisation of cork cell etc are examples
of structural differentiation

12
…continued
 Root hair take up the function of absorption,
mesophyll cells photosynthesise, xylem and
phloem bring about ascent of sap and
translocation of food respectively
 Mature cells do not grow further after
differentiation
 NOTE: THE TIME PERIOD FROM THE
MERISTEMATIC PHASE TILL THE
MATURATION PHASE IS THE
GRAND PERIOD OF GROWTH

13
MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH
 Growth in plants is measured in terms of:
Increase in the number of cells produced

Increase in the girth and length of

shoot and root

Increase in the dry weight of organ and increase

in the area of leaf or volume of a fruit

14
MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH IN
TERMS OF LENGTH
DIRECT METHOD
WITH THE HELP OFA SCALE TO FIND CHANGE IN LENGTH AFTER PARTICULAR
TIME INTERVALS

HORIZONTAL MICROSCOPE
FIXED AT A CLOSE DISTANCE TO THE DISTANCE OF UPWARD MOVEMENT= GROWTH
GROWING APEX AND AFTER A LAPSE OF TIME
MOVED UP

AUXANOMETER
ARC AUXANOMETER PFEFFER’S AUXANOMETER

15
HORIZONTAL MICROSCOPE
16
ARC AUXANOMETER
 Consists of a curved graduated scale, a
pulley with a groove and a pointer which
moves on a scale
 One end of a thread is tied to the stem
tip of a potted plant and then hung on the
pulley of the auxanometer
 The other end is tied of the thread is tied
to a small weight to keep the thread
stretched
17
18
…continued
 The pulley is fixed with a long aluminium
pointer which slides over a graduated arc
 As the stem grows in length the weight
pulls the thread down
 The pointer moves on the graduated arc
indicating growth

19
 PFEFFER’S AUXANOMETER

Figure 1 An auxanometer is a device for making automated measurements of growth. A figure of a late 19th century auxanometer taken from
Wilhelm Pfeffer's classic textbook is shown [<ce:cross-ref refid="bib0005"> 1</ce:cross-ref> ].

Edgar P Spalding , Nathan D Miller

Current Opinion in Plant Biology Volume 16, Issue 1 2013 100 - 104

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2013.01.001

20
GROWTH RATES
 Growth in unit time is growth rate

ARITHMETIC Lt = L0 + rt
GROWTH
RATES
GEOMETRIC W1 =W0ert

21
Arithmetic Growth
 Growth is constant from the beginning
 Growth progresses arithmetically e.g.
2to4to6to 8to10
 Found in root and shoot apices
 Single meristematic cell divides into two
of which one continues to divide while
the other differentiates and matures
 Lt = L0 + rt
 Lt = Length after time t
22
…continued
L0 = length at the beginning

 r = growth rate or elongation per unit time

23
LINEAR CURVE OF ARITHMETIC GROWTH
24
GEOMETRIC GROWTH
 All daughter cells of the mother cell
divide
 Common in unicellular organisms and
microorganisms
 The initial growth is slow (lag phase), and
it increases rapidly thereafter at an
exponential rate (exponential phase).
 With limited nutrient supply, the growth
slows down after sometime (stationary
phase) or it may stop
25
…continued
 A typical S-shaped or sigmoid growth
curve is obtained in organisms living in a
natural environment
 It is not uniform in plants showing
seasonal activity showing small steps
indicating stoppage and resumption of
growth every year
 W1 =W0ert
 W0 = initial size at the beginning

26
…continued
 W1 = final size(weight, height,
number)
 r = growth rate
 t= time for which the growth continues
 e = base of natural logarithms

 The magnitude of growth rate is called

efficiency index by Blackman(1919) as
organisms with higher growth rates will
outperform others

27
GEOMETRIC GROWTH
28
C = stages during embryonic
development showing both the
types of growth rates
29
Absolute growth rate
 It is the measurement and comparison in
total growth of two organs or organisms
per unit time
 A bell shaped curve is obtained during the
grand period of growth
 Initial rise is lag and log phases
 The top Gmax
 Declining curve = declining growth

30
BELL SHAPED ABSOLUTE GROWTH RATECURVE

31
Relative Growth Rate
 Growth rate per unit time shown as
percentage of initial size
 RGR = Growth in a given time period
*100
Initial size
 In the next slide AGR is same in both the leaves
while RGR of leaf A is faster due to its smaller
size

32
Diagrammatic comparison of absolute and
relative growth rates. Both leaves A and B
have increased their area by 5 sq.cm in a
given time to produce A’,B’leaves.

33
FACTORS AFFECTING PLANT
GROWTH
 SUPPLY OF NUTRIENTS: Nutrients
(macro and micro essential elements) are
required by plants for the synthesis of
protoplasm and act as source of energy
 WATER: Turgidity of cells helps in
extension growth. Thus, plant growth and
further development is intimately linked to
the water status of the plant. Water also
provides the medium for enzymatic activities
needed for growth
34
…continued
 OXYGEN: Oxygen helps in releasing
metabolic energy essential for growth
activities
 SUITABLE TEMPERATURE: 28°C to
30°C is optimum for plant growth. Low
temperature inactivates enzymes and a
temperature above 45°C hinders growth
by denaturing enzymes, coagulating
protoplasm and causing excessive
transpiration

35
…continued
 C:N RATIO: Regulates specific growth
patterns
 For example, presence of more N and less
Carbohydrates synthesises more protoplasm
and less mechanical tissues with vigorous
mechanical growth
 Leaves of such plants are succulent, large and
dark green
 If C:N ratio is larger, then more cell wall
materials and mechanical tissues are
synthesised

36
…continued
 LIGHT: light intensity, duration and
quality have a direct effect on plant
growth
 Young plants get etiolated in absence of
light
 Environmental signals such as light and
gravity also affect certain phases/stages of
growth.

37
 DIFFERENTIATION,
DEDIFFERENTIATION AND
REDIFFERENTIATION
 The cells derived from root apical and shoot-
apical meristems and cambium differentiate and
mature to perform specific functions
 This act leading to maturation is termed as
differentiation
 During differentiation, cells undergo few to major
structural changes both in their cell walls and
protoplasm. For example, to form a tracheary
element, the cells would lose their protoplasm.
They also develops a very strong, elastic,
lignocellulosic secondary cell walls, to carry water
to long distances even under extreme tension

38
…continued
 Plants show another interesting phenomenon.
 The living differentiated cells, that by now have
lost the capacity to divide can regain the capacity
of division under certain conditions. This
phenomenon is termed as dedifferentiation
 For example, formation of meristems –
interfascicular cambium and cork cambium from
fully differentiated parenchyma cells
 While doing so, such meristems/tissues are able
to divide and produce cells that once again lose
the capacity to divide but mature to perform
specific functions,i.e.,get redifferentiated
39
DEVELOPMENT
 Development is a term that includes
all changes that an organism goes
through during its life cycle from
germination of the seed to
senescence
 Diagrammatic representation of the
sequence of processes which constitute
the development of a cell of a higher plant
is given in the next slide
 It is also applicable to tissues/organs.

40
Sequence of the developmental process in a plant cell

41
HETEROPHYLLY AND
PLASTICITY
 Plants follow different pathways in response to
environment or phases of life to form different
kinds of structures. This ability is called
plasticity e.g. heterophylly in cotton, coriander
and larkspur
 In such plants, the leaves of the juvenile plant are
different in shape from those in mature plants
 On the other hand, difference in shapes of leaves
produced in air and those produced in water in
buttercup also represent the heterophyllous
development due to environment (Figure on the next
slide)
 This phenomenon of heterophylly is an
example of plasticity

42
 …continued

Heterophylly in (a) larkspur and (b) buttercup 43

…continued
 Thus, growth, differentiation and development are
very closely related events in the life of a plant
 Broadly, development is considered as the
sum of growth and differentiation
 Development in plants (i.e., both growth and
differentiation) is under the control of intrinsic
and extrinsic factors
 The former includes both intracellular (genetic)
or intercellular factors (chemicals such as plant
growth regulators) while the latter includes light,
temperature, water, oxygen,nutrition,etc

44
PLANT GROWTH
REGULATORS(PGR)
 The plant growth regulators (PGRs)
are small, simple molecules of diverse
chemical composition
 They could be indole compounds (indole-
3-acetic acid, IAA); adenine derivatives
(N6-furfurylamino purine, kinetin),
derivatives of carotenoids (abscisic acid,
ABA); terpenes (gibberellic acid, GA3) or
gases (ethylene,C2H4)

45
…continued
 Plant growth regulators are variously
described as plant growth substances, plant
hormones or phytohormones in literature
 The PGRs can be broadly divided into two
groups based on their functions in a living
plant body
 One group of PGRs are involved in growth
promoting activities, such as cell division, cell
enlargement, pattern formation, tropic
growth, flowering, fruiting and seed
formation
46
…continued
 These are also called plant growth promoters,
e.g.,auxins,gibberellins and cytokinins
 The PGRs of the other group play an important
role in plant responses to wounds and stresses of
biotic and abiotic origin.
 They are also involved in various growth inhibiting
activities such as dormancy and abscission
 The PGR abscisic acid belongs to this group
 The gaseous PGR, ethylene, could fit either of the
groups, but it is largely an inhibitor of growth
activities

47
The Discovery of Plant Growth
Regulators
 Interestingly, the discovery of each of the
five major groups of PGRs have been
accidental
 All this started with the observation of
Charles Darwin and his son Francis
Darwin when they observed that the
coleoptiles of canary grass responded to
unilateral illumination by growing towards
the light source (phototropism)

48
…continued
 After a series of experiments, it was
concluded that the tip of coleoptile was
the site of transmittable influence that
caused the bending of the entire
coleoptile
 Auxin was isolated by F.W. Went from tips
of coleoptiles of oat seedlings

49
Experiment used to demonstrate that tip of the
coleoptile is the source of auxin. Arrows indicate
direction of light
50
…continued
 No curvature when coleoptile tip was
removed
 Placing an opaque cap on the coleoptile
tip prevented curvature
 Tip curves when covered with a
transparent cap
 Experiment was performed on coleoptiles
of germinating oat-Avena and canary
grass- Phalaris
51
…continued
 The ‘bakane’ (foolish seedling) a disease of
rice seedlings, was caused by a fungal
pathogen Gibberella fujikuroi
 E. Kurosawa reported the appearance of
symptoms of the disease in uninfected
rice seedlings when they were treated
with sterile filtrates of the fungus. The
active substances were later identified as
gibberellic acid

52
…continued
 F. Skoog and his co-workers observed that
from the internodal segments of tobacco
stems the callus (a mass of undifferentiated
cells) proliferated only if, in addition to
auxins the nutrients medium was
supplemented with one of the following:
extracts of vascular tissues, yeast extract,
coconut milk or DNA.
 Skoog and Miller, later identified and
crystallised the cytokinesis promoting active
substance that they termed kinetin
53
…continued
 During mid-1960s, three independent
researches reported the purification and
chemical characterisation of three different
kinds of inhibitors: inhibitor-B, abscission II
and dormin. Later all the three were proved
to be chemically identical. It was named
abscisic acid (ABA)
 Cousins confirmed the release of a volatile
substance from ripened oranges that
hastened the ripening of stored unripened
bananas. Later this volatile substance was
identified as ethylene, a gaseous PGR

54
Auxins
 Auxins (from Greek ‘auxein’ : to grow) was
first isolated from human urine. The term
‘auxin’ is applied to the Indole-3-acetic acid
(IAA), and to other natural and synthetic
compounds having certain growth regulating
properties
 They are generally produced by the growing
apices of the stems and roots, from where
they migrate to the regions of their action
 Auxins like IAA and Indole butyric acid (IBA)
have been isolated from plants
55
56
…continued
 In most higher plants, the growing apical
bud inhibits the growth of the lateral
(axillary) buds, a phenomenon called
apical dominance
 Removal of shoot tips (decapitation)
usually results in the growth of lateral
buds
 It is widely applied in tea plantations,
hedge-making
57
…continued
 NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) and 2, 4-D (2,
4-dichlorophenoxyacetic) are synthetic
auxins
 All these auxins have been used extensively
in agricultural and horticultural practices
 They help to initiate rooting in stem cuttings,
an application widely used for plant
propagation
 Auxins promote flowering e.g. in pineapples
 They help to prevent fruit and leaf drop at
early stages but promote the abscission of
older mature leaves and fruits
58
Apical dominance in plants : (a) A plant with
apical bud intact (b) A plant with apical bud
removed Note the growth of lateral buds into
branches after decapitation. 59
…continued
 Auxins also induce parthenocarpy, e.g., in
tomatoes
 They are widely used as herbicides
 2, 4-D, widely used to kill dicotyledonous
weeds, does not affect mature
monocotyledonous plants
 It is used to prepare weed-free lawns by
gardeners
 Auxin also controls xylem differentiation
and helps in cell division
60
GIBBERELLINS
 Gibberellins are another kind of promotory
PGR
 There are more than 100 gibberellins
reported from widely different organisms
such as fungi and higher plants
 They are denoted as GA1, GA2, GA3 and so
on
 However, Gibberellic acid (GA3) was one of
the first gibberellins to be discovered and
remains the most intensively studied form

61
GA 3

62
…continued
 All GAs are acidic
 They produce a wide range of physiological
responses in the plants
 Their ability to cause an increase in length of axis
is used to increase the length of grapes stalks
 Gibberellins, cause fruits like apple to elongate
and improve its shape
 They also delay senescence
 Thus, the fruits can be left on the tree longer so
as to extend the market period.
 GA3 is used to speed up the malting process in
brewing industry

63
…continued
 Sugarcane stores carbohydrate as sugar in their
stems
 Spraying sugarcane crop with gibberellins
increases the length of the stem, thus increasing
the yield by as much as 20 tonnes per acre
 Spraying juvenile conifers with GAs hastens the
maturity period, thus leading to early seed
production
 Gibberellins also promotes bolting (internode
elongation just prior to flowering) in beet,
cabbages and many plants with rosette habit

65
Cytokinins
 Cytokinins have specific effects on
cytokinesis, and were discovered as kinetin
(a modified form of adenine, a purine) from
the autoclaved herring sperm DNA
 Kinetin does not occur naturally in plants.
Search for natural substances with cytokinin-
like activities led to the isolation of zeatin
from corn-kernels and coconut milk
 Since the discovery of zeatin, several
naturally occurring cytokinins, and some
synthetic compounds with cell division
promoting activity,have been identified

66
67
…continued
 High cytokinin to auxin ratio causes
differentiation of shoots
 A low ratio of cytokinin to auxin
causes root formation
 Intermediate cytokinin to auxin ratio
causes formation of roots as well as
shoots
 Intermediate cytokinin to low auxin
causes growth of large amount of
callus
68
…continued
 Natural cytokinins are synthesised in regions
where rapid cell division occurs, for example,
root apices, developing shoot buds, young
fruits etc.
 It helps to produce new leaves, chloroplasts
in leaves, lateral shoot growth and
adventitious shoot formation.
 Cytokinins help overcome the apical
dominance.
 They promote nutrient mobilisation which
helps in the delay of leaf senescence.

69
…continued
 Cytokinins break the dormancy of many seeds and
promote their germination

 Cytokinins stimulate the growth of lateral buds and thus

suppress apical dominance
 Cytokinins delay ageing of plant organs by controlling
protein synthesis and mobilisation of resources
 Cytokinins promote femaleness during sex expression
in the flowering of plants

 Cytokinins induce parthenocarpy in many plants

70
…continued
 Cytokinins are known to stimulate several
enzymes especially those concerned with
photosynthesis

 Cytokinins are used to prevent premature

senescence in crop plants
 Cytokinins are applied to the marketed
vegetables, cut shoots and flowers to keep them
fresh for several days.
 Cytokinins are used in tissue culture because of
their role in cell division and morphogenesis
71
Ethylene
 Ethylene is a simple gaseous PGR. It is
synthesised in large amounts by tissues
undergoing senescence and ripening fruits
 Influences of ethylene on plants include
horizontal growth of seedlings, swelling of the axis
and apical hook formation in dicot seedlings
 Ethylene promotes senescence and abscission of
plant organs especially of leaves and flowers
 Ethylene is highly effective in fruit ripening
 It enhances the respiration rate during ripening of
the fruits. This rise in rate of respiration is called
respiratory climactic

72
ETHYLENE AND ETHEPHON
73
…continued
 Ethylene breaks seed and bud dormancy,
initiates germination in peanut seeds,
sprouting of potato tubers. Ethylene
promotes rapid internode/petiole
elongation in deep water rice plants. It
helps leaves/ upper parts of the shoot to
remain above water
 Ethylene also promotes root growth and
root hair formation, thus helping the
plants to increase their absorption surface
74
…continued
 Ethylene is used to initiate flowering and
for synchronising fruit-set in pineapples. It
also induces flowering in mango
 Since ethylene regulates so many
physiological processes, it is one of the
most widely used PGR in agriculture. The
most widely used compound as source of
ethylene is ethephon

75
…continued
 Ethephon in an aqueous solution is readily
absorbed and transported within the
plant and releases ethylene slowly
 Ethephon hastens fruit ripening in
tomatoes and apples and accelerates
abscission in flowers and fruits (thinning
of cotton, cherry,walnut)
 It promotes female flowers in cucumbers
thereby increasing the yield
76
Abscisic acid
 Abscisic acid (ABA) was discovered for
its role in regulating abscission and
dormancy. But like other PGRs, it also has
other wide ranging effects on plant
growth and development
 It acts as a general plant growth inhibitor
and an inhibitor of plant metabolism.ABA
inhibits seed germination

77
ABSCISIC ACID
78
…continued
 ABA stimulates the closure of stomata in the
epidermis and increases the tolerance of
plants to various kinds of stresses. Therefore,
it is also called the stress hormone.
 ABA plays an important role in seed
development, maturation and dormancy.
 By inducing dormancy, ABA helps seeds to
withstand desiccation and other factors
unfavourable for growth.
 In most situations, ABA acts as an antagonist
to GAs.

79
INTERACTION OF GROWTH
HORMONES
 For any and every phase of growth,
differentiation and development of plants,
one or the other PGR has some role to play.
Such roles could be complimentary or
antagonistic. These could be individualistic or
synergistic
 Similarly, there are a number of events in the
life of a plant where more than one PGR
interact to affect that event, e.g., dormancy
in seeds/ buds, abscission, senescence, apical
dominance,etc
80
…continued
 Remember, the role of PGR is of only one
kind of intrinsic control
 Along with genomic control and extrinsic
factors, they play an important role in plant
growth and development. Many of the
extrinsic factors such as temperature and
light, control plant growth and development
via PGR. Some of such events could be:
vernalisation, flowering, dormancy, seed
germination, plant movements,etc
81
82