HEMCHANDRACHARYA NORTH GUJARAT

UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES
TOPIC : ROLE OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS

Prepared by:
Chaudhary Vishwa G
M.Sc Sem – IV
Paper: BOC – 404
Roll No : 220
* CONTENT
• Introduction
• Role of Plant Growth Regulators on..
1) Seed dormancy
2) Bud dormancy
3) Juvanility
4) Maturity and Senescence
5) Flowering
6) Pollination
* INTRODUCTION
• What Is Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs)?
Plant Growth Regulators are defined as small, simple chemicals
produced naturally by plants to regulate their growth and
development.

• Plant Growth Regulators can be of a diverse chamical

composition such as gases (Ethylene), tarpenes (abscisic acid).

• They are also referred to as Plant Growth substances,

phytohormones or plant hormones. Based on their action, they are
broadly classified as follow:
1) Plant Growth Promoters : They promote cell division, cell
enlargement, flowering, fruiting and seed formation.
Examples are auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins.

2) Plant Growth Inhibitors : These chemicals inhibit growth and

promote dormancy and abscission in plants.
An Example is an abscisic acid.

• Note : Ethylene can be a promoter or an inhibitor but is

largely a Plant Growth Inhibitor.
* ROLE OF PLANT GROWTH
REGULATORS
ON…
1) Seed Dormancy :

• Seed dormancy can be defined as the state or condition in

which seeds are prevented from germinating even under the
favourable environmental conditions for germination.

• Auxin is one of the classic phytohormones effective during tropism

growth and tissue differentiation . Recent studies , however shows
that auxin possesses positive effect on seed dormancy, which
suggested that auxin is the second phytohormone that induced seed
dormancy besides ABA.
• ABA is a positive regulator of dormancy induction and most
likely also maintenance , while it is negative regulator of
germination.

• GA releases dormancy, promote germination and counteracts

ABA effects.

• Ethylene and BR promote seed germination and counteracts

ABA effects.

• Cytokinins have been demonstrated to be effective in breaking

the dormancy of seed and some other plant organ.
2) Bud dormancy :
• Bud dormancy is a suspension of most physiological activity and growth that
can be reactivated.

• In many plants, only the apical bus grows and the lower axillary buds are
suppressed. Removal of the apical bud , however results promptly in the
growth of one or several of the lower buds. The auxin of the terminal bud is
thus responsible for inhibiting the development of lateral buds by a
phenomenon, known as a apical dominance.

• Several researchers in the recent past have disproved the concept of direct
inhibition of growth of lateral bud by auxins. It is now assumed that auxins
present in the apical bud promotes a high level of ABA in the lateral bud
which is directly responsable for their dormancy.
• According to recent researches cytokinins and ABA might be responsible
for the phenomenon of apical dominance. The exact role of cytokinins
in causing dormancy of the lateral buds is rather ambiguous.

• Gibberellins have been shown to be effective in breaking the dormancy

in potato tubers and in tree buds in winter. Eagles and Wareing (1964)
have been shown such an effect in birch and sycamore.

• ABA regulates the dormancy of buds and seeds probably by inhibiting

the growth processes. Since gibberellin delays or prevents the onset of
dormancy it is possible that bud dormancy is regulated by a balance
between gibberellins and ABA.
3) Juvenility:
• Juvenility is the early phase of pant growth, from seed germination,
during which flowering can not be induced.

• Thimann and his collaborators have shown that root forming

substance and auxins are identical. The auxin has been found to
increase the rate of formation and final number of root initial.

• The new leaves are formed in the apical meristem due to

accumulation of auxins. The leaves which develop utilise all the
accumulated auxin and , therefore, the new leaves are not formed too
close to them. The characteristics pattern of leaves is thus established.
• The gibberellins are now known to induced synthesis of hydrolysing enzymes
such as in the aleurone layer during the early stages of germination of the
barley grain.

• The gibberellin is released by the embryo and is transported to the aleurone

layer of the endosperm where the enzyme is synthesized under its influence.

• The most typical and striking effect of gibberellin is on the elongation of the
stem. The internodes increase in length. A lettuce plant, low head, becomes
vine like after it is treated with gibberellins, That is known as bolting.

• One of the most interesting effect of cytokinins is the phenomenon of organ

formation in variety of tissue cultures.
• ABA inhibits gibberellin – induced hydrolysing enzyme formation in
barley aleurone (Chrispeels and Varner, 1967).

• ABA promotes root growth but inhibits shoot growth.

• Ethylene inhibits of elongation growth in stem and roots.

4) Maturity and Senescence:

• ABA accelerates the senescence of leaves. The effect can, however,

be reserved by cytokinins in duckweed (Lemna).

• ABA causing ageing and abscission of leaves.

• Auxins delay and even prevent abscission layer formation layer

formation in young leaves, flowers and fruits. Auxins have been
found to be high in young leaves and low in maturing leaves.
• Richmond and Lang (1957) reported the delay of senescence
( chlorophyll disappearance and protein degradation) in the
detached leaves of Xanthium for seveal days when they were
treated with kinetin. This effect of cytokinin in retarding ageing is
called the Richmond – Lang effect.

• Ethylene promotes leaf abscission.

5) Flowering:

• Auxins generally inhibit flowering in pineapple (Ananas sativus),

however, auxins have been found to be promote flowering.

• In the case of lattuce , the inhibitory effect of auxin on flowering has

helped in delaying the flowering. This is beneficial to the farmer
because lattus is grown for the vegetative parts and loses its market
value when it starts flowering.

• Gibberellins have been found to promote flowering in a class of plants

called long – day plants under unfavorable short day conditions.
• Many long – day plants may, if supplied with gibberellin, initiate
floral primoridia under an otherwise unfavorable photoperiod. In
this group of plants there appears to be some connection between
gibberellin and florigen. Brain (1958,1959), Chailakhyan (1958) and
Naylor (1961) have presented hypothesis associating gibberellin
with the flowering hormone. Carbon dioxide is believed to give rise
to a precursor. The precursor leads to the formation of gibberellin
like homemon, which is then converted into the floral hormone,
florigen.

• Ethylene induct flowering in pineapples.

6) Pollination:

• The PGRs only increased the formation of bunches and did not
increase length and width of bunches and the fruit size .
* REFERENCES
• Textbook of PLANT PHYSIOLOGY by V. Verma

• https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/179_12