Commercial use of plant hormones 5.5.7 Flashcards
How can hormones benefit commercial plant growth?
- Selective weedkillers
- Rooting powders
- Control ripening
How can hormones be used as selective weed killers?
Although auxins are normally growth promoting, in high enough concentrations they can cause such rapid growth that plant tissues become distorted and damaged, allowing pathogens to enter the plant
What hormone is used in selective weed killing and how?
Synthetic auxins and they are applied to plants in concentrations 100 times greater than the natural hormones that are found in plants
Where is the use of synthetic auxins effective in weed killing?
In weeds that occur in fields of cereal crops or grass lawns, as grasses or significantly less sensitive to these selective weed killers than broadleaved weeds and so remain behind as the weeds die
How are auxins used for rooting powders
The lower end of the cutting is dipped in the powder before being planted in the compost and with the correct environmental conditions, roots begin to grow shortly afterwards
What job uses rooting powders a lot?
Florists
What does ethene stimulate
The ripening of fruit
What is ethene used for commercially?
Used for fruits that are delicate and soft when they are ripe (e.g, bananas and tomatoes) and that can be easily damaged during transport.
Instead, these fruits can be harvested when unripe (and therefore harder) transported and then ripened artificially using ethene during transport or when they have arrived at their destination
What is used in the production of seedless fruits?
Auxins and gibberellins, as they can be used to make unpollinated flowers develop fruit
What are parthenocarpic fruits?
Fruits produced without fertilisation
What can auxins also stop occurring?
Fruit being dropped from trees, as they thicken the abscission layer
