Week 13 L3: Plant Development - Branching Flashcards
What is an axillary bud?
the precursor of a branch or lateral shoot.
Formed at the junction between a leaf and the stem.
What are axillary buds?
Axillary meristems
What is an axillary meristem?
Can go on and form branches
What does activation of axillary meristems lead to?
more shoots
What are the axillary shoots?
side shoots
What is the structure of the axillary side shoots?
mimic that of the main stem
Do all buds form flowers?
no, not all buds flower
What determines if a bud will form a flower?
if it becomes active or not is highly regulated, dictates whether the plant is an ultra-branched plant or a plant with no branching
What is the difference between teosinte and modern corn?
their degree of branching
What type of corn has more branching?
ancestral maize (teosinte)
How would you describe a plant with limited branching with a clear central stem?
apically dominant over axillary shoots
apical dominance
What is the traditional view of what causes apical dominance?
an inhibitory signal from the shoot tip
How do we know that apical dominance is due to a signal in the shoot tip?
Decapitate the shoot tip and get bud outgrowth
inhibition relieved
Why is it advantageous to grow buds when root tip is decapitated?
If an animal eats the top of the plant, it can have a plan B.
Is decapitation followed by bud growth an example of canalise trait?
NO, it is an example of plasticity. As the environment changes, the plant adapts
Changing their architecture in response
How do you inhibits a decapitated plant from branching? Initially thought
Add auxin to the tip
no bud outgrowth
How was auxin as an axillary branch inhibitor proven wrong?
auxin application does not suppress axillary branching in max mutants
What is a max3 mutant?
multiple axillary branches mutant
How was it found that shoot and root suppress branching in max3?
a reciprocal experiment
a max3 shoot with a WT root
a max3 root with a WT shoot
What was concluded from the reciprocal experiment?
the branch controlling signal can be made in either tissue and can move from root to shoot