lecture 6 Light and plant development Flashcards
What is light needed for with plants?
Light is needed as a source of energy in the process of photosynthesis. Additionally it is a source of information for plants.
What does light provide plants?
It provides plants critical information about its light environment, which they needs in order to:
Germinate
Grow to a certain size or shape
Induce protective substances
Initiate flowering
What are plants senstive and react to?
quality of light
intensity of light
duration of light
the direction of light
How do plants respond to the light stimuli?
by growing, differentiating, tracking time of day and even seasons, and moving toward or away from the light.
What do plants use the evolved highly sensitive mechanisms for perceiving light for?
regulating developmental changes.
What do plants need in order to initiate development from dark to light growth?
Light energy
Explain etiolated growth
Seedling grown in dark have a pale, unusually tall appearance, known as etiolated growth.
What is the appearance of seedlings grown in light?
vigorous, green appearance
In relation to seedling growth why wan’t photosynthesis drive this transformation?
chlorophyll is not present during that time.
What induces the initial rapid changes for de-etiolation?
distinctly different light response called photomorphogenesis.
What are the light-mediated changes in plant growth and development called?
Photomorphogenesis
What are the important pigments that can promote the responses in plants called?
Photoreceptors
What do Photoreceptors absorb?
Red, Far-red and blue light
List the different parts of the flowering plants from top to bottom
Terminal bud containing shoot apex
Flower
Flower shoot
Node
Axillary bud
Internode
Vegetative shoot
Blade
Petiole
Taproot
Lateral roots
Root apex, covered with root cap
What is a Phytochrome?
Phytochrome is a protein pigment that absorbs red light (650 – 680 nm) and far-red light (710 – 740 nm); plays a key role in light-regulated vegetative growth and reproductive development.
What do spectrophotomete studies indicate?
that the phytochromes are concentrated in meristematic regions of plants.
What do the different phytochromes regulate?
distinct processes in plants and their response can be classified according to the amount and quality of light required to produce the effect.
Where is phytochrome present in dark-grown or etiolated plants?
in a red-light absorbing form (Pr), is converted by red light to a far-red light-absorbing form (Pfr), whichis physiologically active form of phytochrome.
What can Pfr be converted to?
Pr
What is the conversion of Pfr to Pr?
This conversion/ reconversion is a distinctive property of phytochrome and known as photoreversibility.
What does Phytochrome regulate?
Phytochrome regulates the transcription and expression of several genes mainly involved in greening (de-etiolation).