PLANT GROWTH

AND
DEVELOPMENT
 Where and how the structures like roots,
stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds arise
and that too in an orderly sequence?

• Roots from radicle

• Stem from plumule
• Leaves, flowers and
fruits from axillary buds
and
• Seed are inside fruits so
it is also from axillary
buds
Terms – seed, seedling & mature plant

• Plantlet is young or
small plant produced
through vegetative
propagation/ asexual
reproduction and it is
used as a propagule.
• Seedling is a young
plant grown from
seed.
• Trees continue to GROWTH
increase in height or
girth over a period of
time.
• Leaves, flowers and
fruits of the same tree
not only have limited
dimensions {specific
shape and size} but also
appear and fall
periodically and some
time repeatedly.
 Why does vegetative phase precede
flowering in a plant?
• Answer:
• Vegetative phase is the
growth phase which has to
take place before
flowering.
• Otherwise the reproductive
organs will not develop
properly.
• Flowers need energy, so
usually there is a vegetative
phase before flowering.
 All the cells of a plant are descendants of
zygote.
• All structures in a plant, develop from a single
cell, zygote, through cell division and
differentiate into tissues, organ and organ
system.
• Development is the sum of two processes:
growth and differentiation.
• Factors like the Intrinsic (internal) and
extrinsic (external) control the developmental
processes.
 Growth
E.g. expansion of a leaf is growth.

• Growth is one of the most fundamental {basic} and

conspicuous{visible} characteristics of a living being.
Growth can be defined as an irreversible permanent
increase in size of an organ or its parts or even of an
individual cell.
• Growth is accompanied by metabolic processes (both
anabolic and catabolic), that occur at the expense of
energy.
How would you describe the swelling of piece of
wood when placed in water?

• Swelling up of the piece of

wood is not considered as
growth.
• The temporary increase in
size due to imbibition which
can be reversed.
• In seeds: The volume of the
cell temporarily increases as
a result of this swelling,
which doesn't require
energy because materials
are moved passively.
 Continues
Plant Growth Generally is Indeterminate till death &
is non stop
• Plant growth is unique – as plants retain the capacity for
unlimited growth throughout their life.
• This ability of the plants is due to the presence of
meristems {meristos-continuously divide} at certain
locations in their body.
• Cells of such meristems have the capacity to divide and
self-perpetuate (continuing to divide for a long period of
time without stopping).
• The product, soon loses the capacity to divide and such
cells make up the plant body – Permanent tissues.
• What would happen if the meristem ceases
to divide? Does this ever happen?

• If meristem ceases to grow no further

development happens and the plant dies
 Secondary growth- in dicotyledonous plants and
gymnosperms, the lateral meristems that include
a. vascular cambium and b. cork-cambium appear
later in life. These are the meristems that cause
the increase in the girth of the organs in which
they they are active.

Primary growth

Primary growth –
Responsible for elongation of plant along the axis.
 Measurement of growth

• Growth, at a cellular level, is a consequence of

increase in the amount of protoplasm.
• But increase in protoplasm is difficult to measure
directly
• Therefore, one generally measures some quantity
which is more or less proportional to it.
• Growth is, therefore, measured by a variety of
parameters some of which are:
• increase in fresh weight
• Dry weight
• Length
• Area
• Volume
• Cell number.
E.g.,
• one single maize root apical mersitem can give rise to
more than 17,500 new cells per hour (growth
expressed in terms of no. of cells)
• Cells in a watermelon may increase in size by upto
3,50,000 times (growth expressed in terms of size of
cells).
• Growth of a pollen tube (measured in terms of its
length)
• Increase in surface area (denotes the growth in a
dorsiventral leaf).
 PHASES OF GROWTH

• period of growth is divided into three phases:

• Meristematic
• Elongation
• Maturation
 Meristematic phase
• Seen at the root tips and
shoot tips
• Have constantly dividing cells,
both at the root apex and the
shoot apex, represent the
meristematic phase of
growth.
• Cells in this region are rich in
protoplasm, possess large
conspicuous nuclei.
• Cell walls are primary in
nature, thin and cellulosic
with abundant
plasmodesmatal connections.
• Elongation phase:
• Cells proximal {nearer} to
meristematic phase represent the
growth phase
• Cell of this phase has increased
vacuolation, cell enlargement and
new cell wall deposition
• Maturation phase:
• Cells far away from apex, and more
proximal to the phase of elongation
• cells of this zone, attain their
maximal size in terms of wall
thickening and protoplasmic
 Growth Rate
• Increased growth per unit time is termed as growth rate
• Rate of growth can be expressed mathematically {in
numbers}
• An organism, or a part of the organism can produce more
cells in a variety of ways – mitotically or meiotically
• Growth rate shows an increase that may be:
• Arithmetic
• Geometrical
 Arithmetic growth:
• In this type of growth following
mitotic cell division, only one
daughter cell continues to divide
while the other differentiates and
matures.
• simplest expression of arithmetic
growth is exemplified {explained
with an example} by a root
elongating at a constant rate.
Geometrical growth

• In this type of growth

following mitotic cell
division, retain the
ability to divide and
continue to do so
• Shown by many higher plants and plant organs and
plants cell culture
 What happens in geometrical growth
• The initial growth is slow (lag phase), and
it increases rapidly thereafter – at an
exponential rate (log or exponential
phase). limited nutrient supply
• Here, both the progeny cells following
mitotic cell division retain the ability to
divide and continue to do so.
(log phase)
• However, with limited nutrient supply, the
growth slows down leading to a stationary
phase.
• If we plot the parameter of growth
against time, we get a typical sigmoid or S-
curve.
• A sigmoid curve is a characteristic of living
organism growing in a natural
environment.
• It is typical for all cells, tissues and organs
 Questions
• 1. Can you think of • 1. In animals also the
more similar examples? same happens.
• 2. What kind of a curve • 2. Sigmoid curve in each
can you expect in a tree season.
showing seasonal
activities?
• r is also the measure of the ability of the plant to
produce new plant material.
• This is referred to as efficiency index.
• Hence, the final size of W1 depends on the initial size,
W0.
 • Quantitative comparisons between the growth of
living system can also be made in two ways:
• Absolute growth rate
• Relative growth rate

• (i) measurement and the comparison of total growth per

unit time is called the absolute growth rate.
• (ii) The growth of the given system per unit time
expressed on a common basis, e.g., per unit initial
parameter is called the relative growth rate
• Absolute growth rate is total growth per unit time.
• Absolute growth rate= Growth in given time-Initial
growth.
• In the given representation, the absolute growth rate for
both leaves is 5 square centimeters per given time.

Small leaf- 10-5-----5cm

Large leaf – 55-50—5cm
 Relative growth rate
A. RGR = (A1-A\A)x100
= (10-5\ 5)X100
=(5\5)X100
=1X100=100%

B. RGR = (B1-B\B)100
= (55-50\50)100
=(5\50)X100
=*1\10)X100=10%

• Relative growth is the rate of growth with respect to the initial

size. Here, the relative growth rate for leaf A is higher as its
surface area increased by 100% while the surface area of leaf
B increased by only 10%.
Stages during embryo development showing geometric and arithematic
phases
 Conditions for Growth

Water:
• Plant cells grow in size by cell enlargement.
• 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.
Oxygen:
• Helps in releasing metabolic energy essential for growth
activities.
Nutrients (macro and micro essential elements):
• required by plants for the synthesis of protoplasm
• act as source of energy.
Temperature:
• optimum temperature range best suited for its growth
light and gravity:
• affect certain phases/stages of growth
 DIFFERENTIATION, DEDIFFERENTIATION AND
REDIFFERENTIATION

• Differentiation is the process by which meristematic cells

(shoot root and cambium) undergo changes in structure
and shape to perform specific functions
• During differentiation, cells undergo few to major
structural changes both in their cell walls and protoplasm.
Eg., during formation of tracheary element, the cells would
lose their protoplasm and develops a very strong, elastic,
lignocellulosic secondary cell walls (carry water to long
distances even under extreme tension).
Dedifferentiation

• Dedifferentiation is the
process by which the
already differentiated cells
or mature cells get back the
power of division and
become meristematic
• For example: formation of
lateral meristems –
interfascicular cambium and
cork cambium from fully
differentiated parenchyma
cells.
 Redifferentiation
• Redifferentiation is the process
by which meristematic cells
formed by dedifferentiation cells
undergo changes in structure
and shape to perform specific
functions
• Example: tissues in a woody
dicotyledonous plant are the
products of redifferentiation
• Cork cambium – secondary
cortex
• interfascicular cambium –
secondary xylem and secondary
phloem
1.How would you describe a tumour?
• 2. What would you call the parenchyma
• Tumours are the result of
cells that are made to divide under
dedifferentiation. controlled laboratory conditions during
• Tumours are the result of plant tissue culture?
uncontrolled and abnormal cell • Parenchyma cells which are made to
divide to form the callus under
growth.
controlled laboratory conditions are an
• In the beginning, the cells were fully example of the dedifferentiated cells.
functional and normal.
• The normal cell division process
becomes abnormally accelerated
due to changes in the genetic
material, resulting in uncontrollable
cell division.
• This uncontrolled cell division
causes swelling in the tissue,
resulting in a tumour.
• Growth in plants is open
• Differentiation in plants is
also open, because
cells/tissues arising out of
the same meristem have
different structures at
maturity.
• Final structure at maturity of
a cell/tissue is also Can you add a few more examples
determined by the location of open differentiation correlating
of the cell within. the position of a cell to its position
in an organ?
• Example, cells positioned
Example:- Formation of cork &
away from root apical secondary cortex from cork
meristems differentiate as cambium.
root-cap cells, while those Formation of seedlings from callus.
pushed to the periphery
 Determinate and indeterminate plant
growth
• A determinate meristem
usually produces a part of
the plant that has a
predictable size and form,
such as the flower.
• An indeterminate
meristem produces parts of
the plant that can grow for
variable periods of time,
and vary in size and shape
dependent on the local
environment
 DEVELOPMENT
• Development process includes all changes that an
organism goes through during its life cycle from
germination of the seed to senescence (aging).

(Protoplasm)

(Vacuole)
 Plasticity
• Plants follow different pathways in response to
environment or phases of life to form different kinds of
structures. This ability is called plasticity
• Eg, heterophylly in cotton, coriander and larkspur.
Heterophylly in coriander and cotton
• growth, differentiation and development are very
closely related events in the life of a plant.
• Development = Growth + Differentiation.
• Development in plants is under the control of:
• Intrinsic factors
• intracellular (Inside cell-genetic)
• intercellular factors (Outside cell-chemicals like
plant growth regulators)
• Extrinsic factors (light, temperature, water, oxygen,
nutrition, etc.)
 PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS (PGRs)
• Also called as plant growth substances, plant hormones or
phytohormones
• small, simple molecules of diverse chemical composition
1. Indole compounds (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA - Auxin)
2. Adenine derivatives (N6-furfurylamino purine, kinetin -
Cytokinin),
3. Derivatives of carotenoids (Abscisic acid - ABA)
4. Terpenes (gibberellic acid - GA3) or
5. Gases (ethylene, C2H4).
• PGRs can be broadly divided into two groups:
Plant growth promoters:
• involved in growth promoting activities, such as cell division, cell
enlargement, pattern formation, tropic growth, flowering, fruiting
and seed formation.
• Eg., auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins
Plant growth inhibitors:
• involved in various growth inhibiting activities such as dormancy
and abscission\wilting.
• Also play an important role in plant responses to wounds and
stresses of biotic and abiotic origin
• Eg., abscisic acid
• The gaseous PGR, ethylene, could fit either of the groups, but it is
largely an inhibitor of growth activities.
Terms to understand:
• Parthenocarpy: Development of a fruit without
fertilization
• Rosette habit: Circular arrangement of leaves
• Abscission: Natural detachment of parts of a plant,
typically dead leaves and ripe fruit\Wilting.
• Senescence: Condition or process of aging
• Seed dormancy: State in which seeds are prevented
from germinating\sleeping.
• The ‘bakane’ (foolish seedling) 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

2. Gibberellin
 3. Cytokinesis - kinetin
• 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
 4. Abscisic acid & 5. Ethylene
• During mid-1960s, three • H.H.Cousins confirmed the
independent researches release of a volatile
reported the purification and substance from ripened
chemical characterisation of oranges
three different kinds of • This hastened the ripening
inhibitors: of stored unripened
• 1. inhibitor-B, bananas.
• 2. abscission II • Later this volatile
• 3. dormin. substance was identified as
• Later all the three were proved ethylene, a gaseous PGR-
to be chemically identical. plant growth regulator.
• It was named abscisic acid
(ABA).
 Physiological Effects of Plant Growth Regulators
1. Auxins
• Auxins (from Greek ‘auxein’ : to grow) was first isolated from human
urine.
• Term ‘auxin’ is applied to the indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and to other
natural and synthetic compounds having growth regulating
properties.
• Site of production - growing apices of stems and roots, from where
they migrate to the regions of their action.
• Auxins in plants - IAA and indole butyric acid (IBA)
• Synthetic auxins - NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) and 2, 4-D (2, 4-
dichlorophenoxyacetic)
• used extensively in agricultural and horticultural
• 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.
 Significance:
• initiate rooting in stem cuttings,
• used for plant propagation.
• promote flowering e.g. in pineapples.
• prevent fruit and leaf drop at early stages
• promote the abscission of mature leaves and fruits.
• Induce parthenocarpy, e.g., in seedless tomatoes.
• 2, 4-D is widely used to kill dicotyledonous weeds, does
not affect mature monocotyledonous plants.
• used to prepare weed-free lawns by gardeners.
• controls xylem differentiation and helps in cell division.
 Gibberellins
• more than 100 gibberellins reported from widely
different organisms such as fungi and higher plants.
• Denoted as GA1, GA2, GA3 and so on.
• first discovered and studied well - Gibberellic acid
(GA3)
• All of them are acidic
Significance:
• length of grapes stalks
• cause fruits like apple to elongate and improve its
shape
 Significance
• Delay senescence - the fruits
can be left on the tree Malting - sprouting
longer so as to extend the
market period.
• GA3 is used to speed up the
malting process in brewing
industry.
• Spraying sugarcane crop
with gibberellins increases
the length of the stem, thus
increasing the yield by as
much as 20 tonnes per acre.
 Significance
• Spraying juvenile
conifers with GAs
hastens the maturity
period, thus leading to
early seed production.
• promotes bolting
(internode elongation
just prior to flowering) in
beet, cabbages and
many plants with rosette
habit.
 Cytokinins
• Have specific effects on cytokinesis
• Discovered as kinetin (a modified form of adenine, a
purine) from herring (small silvery fish) sperm DNA.
• Substances with cytokinin-like activities - zeatin (corn-
kernels and coconut milk
• After zeatin several natural and synthetic substances
with cell division promoting activity were identified.
• Site of formation - in regions where rapid cell division
occurs. Eg., root apices, developing shoot buds, young
fruits etc
Significance:
• Helps to produce new leaves, chloroplasts in leaves,
lateral shoot growth and adventitious shoot formation.
• Help overcome the apical dominance.
• Promote nutrient mobilization which helps in the delay
of leaf senescence.
 Ethylene -simple gaseous PGR
• Site of synthesis - 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. So it is called as respiratory climatic.
 Significance
• 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
(increase their absorption surface).
• Ethylene is used to initiate flowering and for synchronizing fruit-
set in pineapples. (dozens of fruit-producing flowers that have
fused into a single fruit)
• It also induces flowering in mango.
 Ethephon
• 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.
• 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.
 Abscisic acid
• Abscisic acid (ABA) was discovered for its role in
regulating abscission and dormancy.
• Acts as a general plant growth inhibitor and an
inhibitor of plant metabolism.
• Inhibits seed germination.
• 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.
• Plays an important role in seed development,
maturation and dormancy.
• By inducing dormancy, ABA helps seeds to withstand
desiccation (drying) and other factors unfavourable
for growth.
• In most situations, ABA acts as an antagonist to GAs.
 Effect of 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. complimentary
means making it better when both are present. Antagonistic means
they work opposite to one other. E.g. auxins promote apical
dominance but cytokinin promote the growth of lateral buds.
• These could be individualistic or synergistic (enhancing effect -
Cytokinin increase rate of cell division while Gibberellins involved in
cell maturity, enlargement and germination thus enhance the
effects).
• 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.
 Factors reasonable for plant growth
• 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.
 PHOTOPERIODISM
• Response of plants to periods of day/night is termed
photoperiodism
• some plants require a periodic exposure to light to
induce flowering
• Critical Photoperiod: definite day length light period
above or below of which the plant never blooms is
known as critical photoperiod.
• Different species of plants have different critical
photoperiod.
• Based on this critical duration, plants can fall into three
categories:
Short Night Plants. Long Night Plants.
Eg., – spinach, Eg., – Soyabean, Eg. - Tomatoes, pea
radish, hibiscus tobacco, plants, rose
chrysamthemum
 How does flowering happen?
• While shoot apices modify themselves into flowering
apices prior to flowering, they (i.e., shoot apices of
plants) by themselves cannot perceive photoperiods.
• The site of perception of light/dark duration are the
leaves.
• It has been hypothesised that there is a hormonal
substance(s) - Florigen that is responsible for flowering.
• This hormonal substance migrates from leaves to shoot
apices for inducing flowering only when the plants are
exposed to the necessary inductive photoperiod.
 VERNALISATION
• In addition to light, another factor that influences
flowering in plants is temperature.
• Quantitatively or qualitatively dependency on expose
to low temperature for flowering is Vernalisation.
• Significance:
• prevents plants from maturing too early in the
growing season
• enables the plant to have sufficient time to reach
maturity.
• Induces early flowering and reduces the vegetative
phase of plants..
• Temperature affects flowering, metabolic activities, and
germination of seeds in plants.
• Plants - in mild weather - germinate at low temp
• plants - in hot regions - germinate at high temp
• Some plants need exposure to a low temperature to
germinate.
• Plant can be induced to flower in a growing season by
exposing it to low temperature. Therefore, it shortens
the vegetative phase and hastens flowering in plants.
• Eg – 1: Food plants such as wheat and barley have a
‘spring variety’ and a ‘winter variety’.
Spring variety:
• normally planted in the spring (Mar, Apr, May) and
come to flower
• produce grain before the end of the growing season
Winter varieties:
• Planted in autumn (sep, Oct and Nov)
• Germinate and over winter (Dec, Jan, Feb)come out as
small seedlings
• Resume growth in the spring (Mar, Apr, May)
• Harvested usually around mid-summer.

If this variety is planted in spring would normally fail to

flower or produce mature grain within a span of a
flowering season.
Eg – 2: Biennial plants – they take 2 years to flower.
• Grow leaves, stem, and roots in the first year
• Enter a period of dormancy in the cold months.
• This period is required for vernalisation to flower in
the subsequent months.
• Eventually, biennial plants flower, produce fruit and
die in the next spring/summer.
• Examples - carrots, sugarbeet, and cabbages.