9.3 Plant Growth Flashcards
What are meristems?
Meristems are tissues in a plant consisting of undifferentiated cells capable of indeterminate growth
What type of cells are meristems similar to?
They are analagous to totipotent stem cells in animals
What is one difference between meristems and totipotent stem cells?
except that they (meristems) have specific regions of growth and development
What can meristematic tissue allow plants to do?
Meristematic tissue can allow plants to regrow structures or even form entirely new plants (vegetative propagation)
Into what two categories can meristematic tissue be put into?
Meristematic tissue can be divided into
apical meristems and lateral meristems
Where are apical meristems located?
Apical meristems occur at shoot and root tips
What are apical meristems responsible for?
are responsible for primary growth (i.e. plant lengthening)
Where are lateral meristems located?
Lateral meristems occur at the cambium
What are lateral meristems responsible for?
are responsible for secondary growth (i.e. plant widening / thickening)
What do apical meristems create?
Apical meristems give rise to new leaves and flowers,
What do lateral meristems produce?
bark (on trees)
How does primary growth at the apical meristems occur (what processes)?
Growth at these regions is due to a combination of cell enlargement and repeated cell division (mitosis and cytokinesis)
How do apical meristems result in many other tissues?
Differentiation of the dividing meristem gives rise to a variety of stem tissues and structures – including leaves and flowers
Where does growth occur in the stem?
In the stem, growth occurs in sections called nodes
What does the meristem that is not used in the stem form?
with the remaining meristem tissue forming an inactive axillary bud
What may axillary buds form?
These axillary (lateral) buds have the potential to form new branching shoots, complete with leaves and flowers
What controls the growth of the stem?
The growth of the stem and the formation of new nodes is controlled by plant hormones released from the shoot apex
What is the main group of plant hormones involved in plant growth called?
One of the main groups of plant hormones involved in the shoot and root growth are AUXINS (e.g. indole-3-acetic acid / IAA)
What do auxins do?
When auxins are produced by the shoot apical meristem, it promotes growth in the shoot apex via cell elongation and divisio
What does auxin “inhibit”?
The production of auxins additionally prevents growth in lateral (axillary) buds, a condition known as apical dominance
Why is apical dominance necessary?
Apical dominance ensures that a plant will use its energy to grow up towards the light in order to outcompete other plants
When does the inhibition of the axillary bud diminish?
As the distance between the terminal bud and axillary bud increases, the inhibition of the axillary bud by auxin diminishes
Do all plants show the same level of apical dominance?
NO
Different species of plants will show different levels of apical dominance
What are auxins?
Auxins are a group of hormones produced by the tip of a shoot or root (i.e. apical meristems) that regulate plant growth
How can auxin be distributed around the plant?
Auxin efflux pumps can set up concentration gradients within tissues – changing the distribution of auxin within the plant
What does the action of auxin efflux pumps result in?
These pumps can control the direction of plant growth by determining which regions of plant tissue have high auxin levels