Chapter 7 AGR 1040 - 2.0

unit two
Plant Structure,
Chemistry, Growth,
Development, Genetics,
Biodiversity, and Processes
6 Structure of Higher Plants
7 Plant Growth & Development
8 Plant Chemistry & Metabolism
9 Genetics & Propagation
10 Cultivated Plants:
Naming, Classifying, Origin,
Improvement & Germplasm
Diversity and Preservation
11 Photosynthesis & Respiration
12 Water Relations
13 Mineral Nutrition
Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development
KEY LEARNING CONCEPTS

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Know the difference between plant growth and plant

development & understand ways to measure each.
Understand the factors that affect plant growth and
development and what the effects are.
Understand how those factors can be manipulated
to control plant growth and development.
Recognize the categories of plant hormones,
understand their role in plant growth and
development, and how they are used to control plant
growth and development.
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Practical Horticulture 5th edition

By Margaret J. McMahon, Anton M. Kofranek and Vincent E. Rubatsky
2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Reproductive Growth and Development

Fruit and seed production involves several phases:
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Flower induction and initiation.

Flower differentiation and development.
Pollination.
Fertilization.
Fruit set and seed formation.
Growth and maturation of fruit and seed.
Fruit senescence.


Flower Induction/Initiation
At maturity Plants switch from vegetative, to
reproductive.
Different periods for different species
A majority of agricultural plants dont require a

environmental signal
Self-inductive for flowering
Others require and environmental
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Growing degree days (GDD) a way for plants to

measure heat accumulation
GDDs necessary for flowering or seed maturation
in many species
Can be used to predict/control time of
flowering/harvest.
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B
Figure 7-17 Transition of an apical meristem of chrysanthemum,

(A) Vegetative (note the smooth, rounded surface of the meristem).
(B) Floral structures beginning to develop.
(C) Fully developed flower bud.
Chrysanthemums are in the Asteraceae family, with multiple flowers on the flower head or capitulum.
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Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Short Day Plant (SDP) plant initiates flowers only
under short-day, long-night conditions
Early studies showed some soybeans
& tobacco required short days
Long Day Plant (LDP) A plant that flowers when
the light period is greater (dark period is shorter)
than a critical duration.
Spinach, sugar beets, winter barley, and
carnations are examples
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Day Neutral Plants (DNP) A plant that flowering is
not affected by daylength.
Tomato, corn, fruit trees, & cucumber are
examples
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A flash of lightnight breakof sufficient intensity or duration
inhibits flowering of a SDP.
It may also induce flowering of LDP.
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Enables year-round chrysanthemums production
Figure 7-14 These chrysanthemums were grown during the summer and forced into flowering uniformly by drawing
blackout cloth over them every night from about 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 A.M. Under normal photoperiods,
these plants would not flower until late fall. Source: Margaret McMahon, The Ohio State University.
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Poinsettias are short day plants.
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Circadian rhythms Biological rhythms that complete one cycle in approximately 24 hours
Typically initiated, or entrained, by transitions between darkness and light, as occurs at dawn.
Studies show daily fluctuation in sensitivity to light such that, depending on the time of day, light either
inhibits or promotes flowering.
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Phytochrome pigment system responsible for sensing light, located in the leaf.
Positive & negative signals transported via phloem from to the apical meristem.
Florigen positive signal, which promotes photoperiodic flowering, or the floral stimulus.
gene CONSTANS produces transcription factor protein that acts as the signal for flowering.
CONSTANS turns on flowering locus T (FT) gene, starting conversion of apical buds to flower buds
Mediated by phytochrome and chryptochrome.
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Some plants (most biennials), require low temperature for flower induction.
Vernalization any cold temperature treatment that induces or promotes flowering. Vernalization temps range from 32F 50F.
Variesamong species and may differ among cultivars
Olive tree (Olea europaea) & kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa).

Biennials beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery & some garden flowers such as Canterbury bells and foxglove.
Winter annualscereal crops, barley, oats, rye & wheat.
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Flowering Signal - Low Temperature Induction

Some species can be vernalized as seeds, most must reach a size or leaf requirement to be sensitized.
Bulb plants (hyacinth, narcissus, tulip, some lilies) require low temperatures to induce or promote flower
development in the bulb.
Many plants that undergo dormancy need low temperatures to overcome the rest period.
But few require low temperatures for flower induction.
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Flowering Signal - Low Temperature Induction

Flowering causes a change in the apical meristem from vegetative to reproductive.
Days to anthesis (days from flower initiation to flower opening) depends on species & cultivar.
Generally time is increased if temperatures are

low, and decreased with warm temperatures.
Extreme changes in temperature can cause flowers
to abort or be deformed.
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Flower Development
The floral apex may abort if environmental

conditions do not favor full flower development
Axillary buds below the aborted
floral apex will usually grow
vegetatively (bypass growth)
until daylength or temperature
conditions once again are
favorable for flower induction.
Figure 7-20
These poinsettias are exhibiting the start of
bypass growth that resulted from being placed
back in long day conditions after flower induction
under short days. The flowers have aborted.
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Pollination
Fruit, grain & seed formation starts with pollination.
Transfer of pollen from anther to stigma in angiosperms.
The anther and stigma may be
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In the same flower (self-pollination).

In different flowers on the same plant (self-pollination).
In different flowers on different plants of the same clone (self-pollination).
In different flowers on plants of different cultivars.
(cross-pollination).


Pollination
Pollen grains come in

many sizes and shapes
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Pollination
Various parts of a simple flower dependent
upon pollination for fruit set.
Figure 7-22
Longitudinal section of a cherry
flower showing the structures
involved in the transfer of pollen
from anthers to stigma.
Source: USDA.
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Pollination
A self-fertile plant produces fruit & seed with its
own pollen, without pollen from another plant.
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Pollination
A self-sterile plant cannot set fruit & seed with its

own pollen, but requires pollen from another plant.
Usually of a different clone.
Often due to incompatibility, where
a plants own pollen will not grow
through the style into its embryo sac.
Figure 7-23
Longitudinal section through the carpel
of a flower following pollination and just
before fertilization.
Cross-pollination between two cultivars

can be ineffective due to incompatibility,
due to factors inhibiting pollen tube
germination or elongation.
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Pollination
Pollen transfer is principally by insects & wind.
Other pollinating agents are water, snails, slugs,
birds, and bats.
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Pollination
Longitudinal section
through the pistil of
a flower following
pollination.
Note the elongated pollen tube.
A pollen grain that germinated
the sticky surface of the stigma
has grown down through the
style carrying the male gametes
to the embryo sac in the ovary.
Figure 7-23
Longitudinal section through the carpel
of a flower following pollination and just
before fertilization.
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Fertilization
Angiosperms: pollen tube grows through the micropyle opening in the ovule into the embryo
sac and discharges two sperm nuclei (1N each).
This process is termed double fertilization.
Elapsed time between pollination & fertilization in most angiosperms is about 24 - 48 hours.
Gymnosperms: no flowers or fruit is producedpollen-producing cones are produced on
the tree separately.
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Fertilization
Parthenocarpy formation of fruit without the stimulation of pollination and
fertilization.
Without fertilization, no seeds are producedthus parthenocarpic fruits are seedless.
Parthenocarpy is induced in some fruits by the application of gibberillins and

auxins.
Not all seedless fruits are parthenocarpic.
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Fertilization
At time, as in certain seedless grapes, pollination & fertilization occur and
the fruit forms but the embryo abortsthus no viable seed is produced.
This is called stenospermocarpy.
Parthenocarpic and stenospermocarpic plants have to be propagated

vegetatively.
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Fruit Setting
Fruit development is coordinated maturation of all

tissues & organs involved in formation of the fruit.
Accessory tissues in the flower are often involved in
fruit formationbotanically, however, the true fruit is
just the enlarged ovary.
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Fruit Setting
In many plants only a small percentage of flowers

develop into fruits.
Particularly in fruit crops where a tree could not possibly
mature as many fruits as there are flowers.
When the zygote fails to develop and no seed

forms, the immature fruit usually drops.
Except in the case of parthenocarpy & stenospermocarpy.
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Fruit Setting
Figure 7-25 Developmental pattern of the tissues in a lettuce fruit, from the fertilized egg to the mature fruit. The ovary
wall (the pericarp) is firmly attached to the seed coat (integument), so the structure is correctly considered
a fruit and not a seed. P = pericarp; I = integument; N = nucellus; En = endosperm; Em = embryo.
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Fruit Setting
Plant hormones may be involved in fruit setting, but actual physiological mechanisms are
unknown.
In fruits of some species, applied auxin can replace the stimulus of pollination and/or fertilization.
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and figs.
Fruit set can also be induced in grapes, certain stone fruits, apples & pears by gibberellin sprays.
Cytokinins also stimulate fruit set in grapes.
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Fruit Setting
A problem in fruit production is obtaining the optimal level of fruit
setting.
Too low a fruit set gives a light, unprofitable crop.
Too heavy a set gives undesirable small, poor-quality fruits that mature late.
Possibly resulting in little or no crop the following year.
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Fruit Setting
Halfor moreof fruits are removed at a very early stage to overcome excessive
fruit set.
Fruits of some species are self-thinning.
Low temperature, low light intensity and lack of adequate soil moisture can adversely
affect fruit set
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Fruit Growth and Development

Hormonal substances involved in fruit growthThese materials originate in
developing seeds and fruit.
Relationship between fruit growth and presence of auxin in strawberries.
Removing achenes from the surface of the strawberry
at an early growth stage causes it to be lopsided.
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Application of gibberellin to Thompson seedless grape
clusters at an early berry development stage increases the
ultimate fruit size.
Most grapes of this cultivar grown in California are treated with
gibberellin.
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There is considerable cell division during flower
development and in the early stages of fruit growth
Following this period of intense cell division, most
fruits increase in size because of cell enlargement.
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Fruits have two basic

patterns of growth.
The simple sigmoid growth curve.
The double sigmoid growth curve.
Figure 7-26 Growth curves of representative kinds of

fruits showing the two characteristic types.
Top: Sigmoid growth curve.
Bottom: The double sigmoid growth curve.
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Stone fruitspeach, apricot, plum, cherryas well as
the grape & fig show double sigmoid growth.
The pit hardens during the second phase of fruit
development.
In addition, some important
changes take place in seed
development within the pit.
Figure 7-27
Apricot growth curve of an apricot fruit
through the growing season. During the
second growth period the pit (endocarp)
hardens & the seed within the pit develops
mostly from nutritive tissue (nucellus and
endosperm) to finally consist entirely of
the embryo.
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Climacteric fruits as they ripen, a burst of
respiration releases high levels of ethylene.
Apples, apricots, bananas, and tomatoes are examples.
Fruit ripening can often be hastened by treating with

ethylene before or after harvest.
Ethylene production can cause damage to sensitive plants
nearby
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Aging and Senescence

Life spans of flowering plants differ greatly, ranging
from a few months to thousands of years.
Some of the California coast redwoods (Sequoia
sempervirens) are known to be over 3,000 years old.
Olive trees with huge

trunks in the eastern
Mediterranean area
are believed to be
over 2,000 thousand
years old.
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Senescence a a terminal, irreversible
deteriorative change in living organisms, leading to
cellular and tissue breakdown and death.
Conspicuous physical decline, particularly evident toward
the end of the life cycle of annual plants (population
senescence)
It occurs in individual plants (whole plant senescence),
and leaves, seeds, flowers, or fruits (organ senescence).
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Plants exhibit senescence in different ways.
Annuals the entire plant dies at the end of one growing
season probably due to fruit and seed production.
Herbaceous perennials tops of the plants die at the
end of the growing season, but the shoot grows again
in the spring and the roots can live for many years.
Deciduous woody perennials leaves senesce, die and
fall off each year, but shoot & root systems remain alive.
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Vegetatively propagated clones can extend the life
of a plant for what theoretically could be indefinitely.
The Winter Pearmain apple cultivated in England, was
grown there as early as 1200 ce.
The Black Corinth grape has been grown in Greece for
thousands of years.
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Pathogenic attack or environmental stress can also
cause senescence
As individual trees age they are more vulnerable to lethal
attacks by fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
Long-lived trees characteristically have very durable heartwood, with high levels of resins & phenolic compounds.
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Transfer of stored nutrients to the reproductive parts
as they develop & mature, at the expense of the &
shoot systems hastens senescence.
Can be postponed in many plants by picking off the
flowers before seeds start to form.
Pollination and fertilization can cause senescence of

some flowers and the cessation of further flowering.
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Plant Growth Regulators

Many plant growth/behavioral patterns & biological
functions are controlled by hormones.
Essentially chemical messengers, influencing the many
aspects of plant development.
Plant hormone A natural substance (produced by the plant
itself) that acts to control plant activities.
Plant growth regulators include plant hormonesnatural &
syntheticand other chemicals not found in plants.
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Five traditionally recognized groups of natural plant hormones.
Figure 7-29
Structural formulas of some natural
and some synthetic plant growth
regulators.
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Additional hormones or hormone classes under investigation: Brassinolides, salicylic
acid, and jasmonates, have been identified.
Synthetic growth regulators allow growers to manipulate plant growth and
development.
Promote rooting, shoot growth, fruit growth, branching
Regulate flowering, growth, seed set
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Auxins
Operate at cellular levels affects protoplasmic streaming & enzyme activity.
Originate in meristems & enlarging tissues.
Apical dominance blockage of lateral bud growth by auxins produced in the

shoot tip or terminal
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Auxins
Indoleacetic acid (IAA) Widespread auxins that
occurs naturally in plants.
Many synthetic auxins induce the same effects.
Important commercial uses of synthetic auxins:

Adventitious root initiation; Weed control.
Inhibition of stem sprouting; Tissue culture.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Gibberellins (GAs) group of hormones with many
powerful regulatory functions.
Stimulates cell division, cell elongation
In some plants, GA is involved in flower initiation

and sex expression (male or female flower parts).
Fruit development controlled by gibberellin in some
species.
Certain dwarfs treated with GA grow to a normal

height after application.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Figure 7-30 Overcoming dwarfness in corn by spraying with gibberellin.

Left: Untreated, genetically dwarf corn plants.
Center: Nondwarf corn sprayed with gibberellin.
Right: Genetic dwarf corn sprayed with gibberellin.
Photographs taken six weeks after spraying.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Gibberellins are also involved in

overcoming dormancy in seeds & buds.
After a moistened seed is placed
at room temperature, a natural
gibberellin produced in the embryo
translocates to the aleurone layer.
Cells in the aleurone layer
synthesize enzymes such as
amylases, proteases, and lipases.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Gibberellins are also involved in

overcoming dormancy in seeds & buds.
The enzymes diffuse in the
endosperm, hydrolyzing starches
& proteins into sugars & amino
acids that become available to the
embryo for growth & development.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Discovered after plants infected with Gibberella
fujikuroi grew excessively and abnormally (1920s).
Extracts from this fungus applied to noninfected plants
stimulated the same abnormal growth.
By 1939, the active ingredient was extracted from

the fungus, crystallized, and named gibberellin.
Led to isolation of many forms of gibberellin extracted
from the Gibberella fungus & from higher plants.
Numbered 1, 2, 3,. In order of discovery
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Gibberellins (GAs)
GA translocates easily in the plant in both directions,
unlike auxin, which moves largely in an apex-tobase direction (basipitally) .
Pharmaceutical companies produce crystalline

GA3 as the acid or the potassium salt for research
studies and certain commercial applications.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
While gibberellins are a powerful and important group of plant hormones only a few agricultural
uses have been found for them:
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Increasing fruit size of seedless grapes.

Controlling excessive shoot elongation
Stimulating seed germination and seedling growth.
Overcoming the cold requirement for some plants
Promoting male flowers in cucumbers


Gibberellins (GAs)
Figure 7-32 Effect of gibberellin sprays on growth of Black Corinth grapes.

(A) Untreated control.
(B) Stem girdling control.
(C) Plants sprayed at an early growth stage with gibberellin at 5 ppm.
(D) At 20 ppm. Photos taken 59 days after spraying.
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Gibberellins (GAs)
Figure 7-33 Effect of gibberellin on germination and growth of Tokay grape seeds.
Seeds soaked (before planting) at 0, 100, 1,000, or 8,000 ppm in potassium gibberellate solution for 20 hr.
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Cytokinins
Promote cell division, participate in growth and
development, cell enlargement, tissue
differentiation, dormancy, flowering and fruiting,
and in retardation of leaf senescence.
Cytokinins interact with auxins
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Cytokinins
Natural cytokinins: zeatin, kinetin
Synthetic cytokinins: benzyladenine, others

There are >100 known natural & synthetic cytokinins
Cytokinins occur in many plant tissues as free

hormonal material & a component of transfer RNA.
Roots supply cytokinins upward to the shoots.
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Cytokinins
Figure 7-34 Effects of a cytokinin and an auxin on growth and organ formation in tobacco stem segments.
(A) Control, no treatment.
(B) Cytokininbud formation but no root formation.
(C) Auxinroot formation with prevention of bud development.
(D) Cytokinin plus auxinstimulation of callus growth but no organ formation.
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Cytokinins
Cytokinins indirectly increase enzyme activity and increase the DNA produced in some
tissues.
No important agricultural uses have been developed for them.
Applications of cytokinins to green tissue have been shown to delay senescence.
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Ethylene
Originally observed in the 1920s to induce fruit ripening
Determined to be a plant product by the mid-1930s
Ethylene, as a gas, diffuses readily throughout the plant, exerts it influence in minute quantities.
Solubility in water also enhances its movement.
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Ethylene
Synthetic ethylene, from ethephon, applied to plant tissues can
cause a great burst of natural ethylene productionan
autocatalytic effect.
This compound applied as an agricultural spray gradually releases ethylene into
plant tissues.
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Ethylene
Ethylene and ethylene-releasing chemicals have
several valuable commercial applications:
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Fruit ripening.
Flower initiation.
Changing sex expression.
Degreening oranges, lemons, and grapefruit.
Harvest aids.
Growth regulation.


Ethylene
Ethylene can also harm plants.
Unwanted leaf abscission and senescence of most
flowers.
Some fruits give off ethylene as they ripen, which can
harm any ethylene-sensitive produce
Can cause flower bud abortion of bulbs during shipment.
The deleterious action of ethylene may be blocked

with the application of methylcyclopropene (MCP) in
some plants
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Abscisic Acid (ABA)
Original names for ABA were dormin & abscisin II.

Because researchers believed there was a primary
function for ABA in these two processes.
Two major roles

Regulation of processes in seed development.
A mobile stress hormone in which ABA action initiates
plants responses to cold and water stress.
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Abscisic Acid (ABA)

ABA is synthesized in both leaves and roots.
At present, no commercial uses of ABA exist in crop production.
The biggest obstacle for such use, besides cost, is
the that the plant rapidly deactivates ABA.
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Additional Hormones or Hormone Classes

Four additional hormones or hormone classes have
been discovered.
Brassinolides steroids, closely related in structure
to animal steroid hormones such as estrogen and
testosterone.
Salicylic acidthe biologically active component of
aspirinis an important component of plant response to
pathogen attack.
Jasmonates represent a group of compounds involved
in systems that defend plants against herbivores.
Systemin produced in tissue wounded by herbivores
and transported to remote tissues an organs, where it
induces defense genes.
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Synthetic Growth Retardants

A group of growth retardants developed since 1950
has several important commercial uses.
Principally in obtaining compact, dwarf-type plants.
These materials generally slow, but not stop, cell

division and elongation in subapical meristems.
Usually without causing stem or leaf malformations.
The primary effect of these materials is converting a

tall-growing plant into a rosette.
Most act by blocking gibberellin synthesis.
Treated plants also often have darker, more

attractive foliage and more flowers than untreated
plants
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Synthetic Growth Retardants

Some better known synthetic growth retardants:
Daminozide
(succinic acid-2, 2-dimenthyl hydrazide; Alar, B-Nine).
Chlormequat
[(2-chloroethyl) trimethylammonium chloride; Cycocel,
CCC].
Ancymidol
Paclobutrazol
[2RS, 3RS]-1-[4-chlorophenyl] 44-dimethyl-21, 4-triazolyl-pentan-3-ol; Bonzi P.
Trinexapac-ethyl
[4-(cyclopropyl--hydroxy-methylene)- 3,5dioxocycloheanecarboxylic acid ethyl ester Primo].
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unit two

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

KEY LEARNING CONCEPTS

Know the difference between plant growth and plant

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Reproductive Growth and Development

Flower induction and initiation.

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

A majority of agricultural plants dont require a

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Growing degree days (GDD) a way for plants to

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Figure 7-17 Transition of an apical meristem of chrysanthemum,

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flower Induction/Initiation - Photoperiodism

Olive tree (Olea europaea) & kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa).

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flowering Signal - Low Temperature Induction

Practical Horticulture 5th edition

2011, 2007, 2002, 1988 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 7 - Plant Growth and Development

Flowering Signal - Low Temperature Induction

Generally time is increased if temperatures are

Practical Horticulture 5th edition