Chapter 7 - Plant growth hormones

Introduction
A constant theme underlying the study of plant physiology is that plant growth and development
are controlled by the environment. Plants being sessile organisms, it is not surprising that their
development is exquisitely sensitive to a wide range of environmental factors and is extremely
plastic, i.e. very flexible. There are underlying basic patterns in plant development, but there is
considerable regulation by environmental signals of how and when these patterns are expressed.
In addition, there are internal signals within the plant. One of the most important factors
influencing the development of a cell is its position within the plant. A plant cell develops
depending on its location in relation to neighbouring cells, and this in turn will determine its
response to environmental signals. For example, the response to drought of a cell within the leaf
will differ in many ways from that of a cell within the root. The key question arises of how a
complex set of environmental factors can interact with cells to elicit an appropriate response
within a given cell type: what are the internal signals that communicate between cells, and
mediate between environmental factors and the plant tissues?
It has been known for decades (if not centuries) that plants contain a range of compounds which
have profound effects on many aspects of growth and developmental physiology, and act as a
means of communication within the plant. These plant growth hormones, sometimes referred to
as plant growth regulators, are still being discovered.

Öpik, H., Rolfe, S., & Willis, A. (2005). Plant growth hormones. In The Physiology of
Flowering Plants (pp. 177-204). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
doi:10.1017/CBO9781139164450.008