1. Plant Growth:
Growth in plants refers to the irreversible increase in size and mass . This is due to the division and enlargement of cells.
Stages of Growth Includes:
- Cell division, or mitosis : is mainly carried out in the plant’s meristems, which are areas where cells are actively dividing. Apical meristems, which are found at the terminals of roots and shoots, and lateral meristems, which add to the thickness of the plant, are the two primary types.
- Cell Elongation: Cells extend their cell walls and absorb water to elongate themselves after dividing.
- Cell Differentiation: Cells become specialized kinds with distinct roles, resulting in the formation of tissues such as ground tissue, xylem, phloem, and epidermis.
2. Plant Development
The processes by which a plant travels through its life cycle, from germination to senescence (aging and death), are referred to as development.
Important Phases of Development:
Germination :The process via which a seed becomes a new plant is called germination. It starts with the imbibition (absorption of water), and then the radicle (root) and plumule (branch) develop.
Vegetative Growth: The stage in which a plant grows larger, develops roots, stems, and leaves, and settles in to begin photosynthesis.
The process of reproductive development involves the emergence of fruits, seeds, and flowers. This phase is essential to the species’ ability to reproduce.
Senescence : This is the last stage of development, during which the plant ages and loses its reproductive organs (leaves, flowers, etc.).
3. Factors Influencing Plant Growth and Development:
- Environmental Elements:
Light: Influences blooming and other developmental processes by affecting photosynthesis and photoperiodism, which is a plant’s response to the length of day and night.
Water: Required for turgor pressure, which maintains cells firm, as well as for cellular functions and the transportation of nutrients.
Temperature: Affects metabolic rates and enzymatic activity; particular temperatures are necessary for various processes, such as germination and flowering.
Nutrients: Building cellular structures and metabolic processes require the presence of essential elements such as potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and others. - Genetic Factors:
- Genotype: A plant’s genetic composition dictates how it will grow, develop, and react to its surroundings.
- Hormonal Regulation: Auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene, and abscisic acid are examples of plant hormones, or phytohormones, that are important in controlling the processes of growth and development.
- Epigenetics: Plant development can also be impacted by heritable variations in gene expression that do not include modifications to the DNA sequence.
4. Hormonal Control:
- Auxins: Involved in tropic responses (such as phototropism and gravitropism), they also encourage cell elongation and root initiation.
- Gibberellins: Promote flowering, seed germination, and stem elongation.
- Cytokinins: Initiate shoots, encourage cell division, and postpone the senescence of leaves.
- Ethelene :Fruit ripening, leaf abscission, and stress response are all influenced by ethylene.
- Abscisic Acid (ABA): Aids in the plant’s response to stressors such as drought by inhibiting growth and promoting seed dormancy.
Watch the video from Khan Academy to Understand about plant hormones
5. Photoperiodism and Vernalization:
- Photoperiodism :A plant’s reaction to the relative durations of day and night is known as photoperiodism. It influences other developmental processes as well as flowering. Based on their responses to photoperiod, plants can be categorized as short-day, long-day, or day-neutral.
- Vernalization: Some plants need a period of cold exposure to trigger flowering. This procedure guarantees that blossoming takes place in the spring or summer at the proper period
6. Plant Responses to External Stimuli (Tropisms):
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- Phototropism :Growing toward or away from light is known as phototropism.
- Geotropism : Growth in reaction to gravity is known as gravitropism (Geotropism); roots usually exhibit positive gravitropism (growing downward) while shoots exhibit negative gravitropism (growing upward).
- Thigmotropism: A plant’s reaction to physical contact or touch; observed in climbing plants such as vines.
Growth toward wetness, or hydrotropism, is mostly seen in roots
7. Plant Senescence and Death:
Senescence: This is a genetically regulated process that causes plant organs to lose their ability to function and to degrade their cellular structures, ultimately leading to death.
Programmed cell death” (PCD) : The process by which particular cells, tissues, or organs are methodically disassembled and removed as a part of development or in response to environmental cues is known as “programmed cell death” (PCD).
In order to ensure that plants successfully complete their life cycles and adapt to their surroundings, a variety of internal and external factors control the intricate and interrelated processes that make up plant growth and development.
For further learning visit the link on Plant Growth and Development from Georgia Tech Biological Sciences
Also watch the video from Fuse School to understand about plant growth
