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THE DISTRIBUTION OF LATERAL ROOTS IN MUSA ACUMINATA ‘GROS MICHEL’
Author(s) -
Riopel James L.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1966.tb07352.x
Subject(s) - pericycle , primordium , poisson distribution , biology , lateral root , distribution (mathematics) , geometry , mathematics , statistics , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , arabidopsis , gene , mutant
Studies of the distribution of lateral roots in banana show that they are initiated along the pericycle in a non‐random, dispersed pattern. This is demonstrated by the failure of laterals to conform to a Poisson distribution and by a nearest neighbor analysis in which the mean distance for nearest laterals is found to be consistently greater than the expected distance based on random association. The slight degree of dispersion indicates that the protoxylem positions adjacent either radially or longitudinally to existing laterals are not as favorable as the remaining protoxylem positions for the development of the next acropetal lateral. Results which show a greater longitudinal distance between successive laterals that form in the same segment of the root, and a tendency for each lateral to form at an angle greater than 30° from the previous one offer further evidence that established lateral primordia may influence the site where the next lateral will arise. It is concluded that the regulation of the positions for lateral roots in banana is dependent both on the presence of special conditions in cells of the pericycle opposite the protoxylem and also on the location of the previous lateral.