Open AccessThe integration of plant behaviour.—I. Separate geotropic stimulations of tip and stump in roots
Author(s) -
Frederick Keeble,
M. G. Nelson,
Robert W. Snow
Publication year - 1929
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1929.0058
Subject(s) - generosity , root (linguistics) , plant root , horticulture , botany , plant roots , coleoptile , chemistry , biology , philosophy , theology , linguistics
The investigations into the chemical processes which play a part in the integration of plant behaviour have been carried out during the past few years in the Botanical Department of the University of Oxford, and the authors wish to express their appreciation of the kind manner in which the Sherardian Professor of Botany has placed the facilities of the Laboratory at their disposal. They desire also to express their thanks to Messrs. Sutton, of Reading, for their generosity in presenting them with the pure strains of seed which were used in these investigations. A decapitated root becomes almost insensitive to geotropic stimuli, but its sensitivity can be largely restored by replacing the tip with a film of moisture between it and the stump (9). Cholodny has further shown that decapitated roots of maize have their sensitivity restored, not only if the root tips are replaced upon the stumps, but also, and even better, if the tips of maize coleoptiles are placed upon them (4). Whichever tip is used, the roots placed horizontally curve downwards, a discovery which we have been able fully to confirm.