Chapter 15 Biology
Chapter 15 Biology
Chapter 15 Biology
Question 2: Why is not any one parameter good enough to demonstrate growth throughout the
life of a flowering plant?
Answer: In plants, growth is said to have taken place when the amount of protoplasm increases.
Measuring the growth of protoplasm involves many parameters such as the weight of the fresh
tissue sample, the weight of the dry tissue sample, the differences in length, area, volume, and cell
number measured during the growth period. Measuring the growth of plants using only one
parameter does not provide enough information and hence, is insufficient for demonstrating
growth.
Question 4: List the five main groups of natural plant growth regulators. Write a note on
discovery, physiological functions and agricultural/horticultural applications of any one of them.
Answer: Plant growth regulators are the chemical molecules secreted by plants affecting the
physiological attributes of a plant. There are five main plant growth regulators. These are:
(i) Auxins
(ii) Gibberellic acid
(iii) Cytokinins
(iv) Ethylene
(v) Abscisic acid
(i) Auxins -
Discovery: The first observations regarding the effects of auxins were made by Charles Darwin
and Francis Darwin wherein they saw the coleoptiles of canary grass bending toward a unilateral
source of light. It was concluded after a series of experiments that some substance produced at
the tip of coleoptiles was responsible for the bending. Finally, this substance was extracted as
auxins from the tips of coleoptiles in oat seedlings.
Physiological functions:
1. They control plant cell-growth.
2. They cause the phenomenon of apical dominance.
3. They control division in the vascular cambium and xylem differentiation.
4. They induce parthenocarpy and prevent abscission of leaves and fruits.
Horticultural applications:
1. They are used as the rooting hormones in stem cuttings.
2. 2-4 D is used weedicide to kill broadleaf, dicotyledonous weeds.
3. They induce parthenocarpy in tomatoes.
4. They promote flowering in pineapple and litchi.
(iii) Cytokinins -
Discovery: Through their experimental observations, F. Skoog and his co-workers found that the
tobacco callus differentiated when extracts of vascular tissues, yeast extract, coconut milk, or DNA
were added to the culture medium. This led to the discovery of cytokinins.
Physiological functions:
1. They promote the growth of lateral branches by inhibiting apical dominance.
2. They help in the production of new leaves, chloroplasts, and adventitious shoots.
3. They help in delaying senescence by promoting nutrient mobilisation.
Horticultural applications:
1. They are used for preventing apical dominance.
2. They are used for delaying senescence in leaves.
(iv) Ethylene -
Discovery: It was observed that unripe bananas ripened faster when stored with ripe bananas.
Later, the substance promoting the ripening was found to be ethylene.
Physiological functions:
1. It helps in breaking seed and bud dormancy.
2. It promotes rapid internode elongation in deep-water rice plants.
3. It promotes root-growth and formation of root hairs.
4. It promotes senescence and abscission of leaves and flowers.
5. It hastens the respiration rate in fruits and enhances fruit ripening.
Horticultural applications:
1. It is used to initiate flowering and synchronizing the fruit set in pineapples.
2. It induces flowering in mango.
3. It is also used to ripen the fruits in tomatoes and apples, and accelerate the abscission of
flowers and leaves in cotton, cherry, and walnut.
4. It promotes the number of female flowers in cucumbers.
Question 7: ‘Both growth and differentiation in higher plants are open’. Comment.
Answer: Growth and development in higher plants is referred to as being open. This is because
various meristems, having the capacity for continuously dividing and producing new cells, are
present at different locations in these plant bodies.
Question 8: ‘Both a short day plant and a long day plant can flower simultaneously in a given
place’. Explain.
Answer: The flowering response in short-day plants and long-day plants is dependent on the
durations for which these plants are exposed to light. The short-day plant and long day plant can
flower at the same place, provided they have been given an adequate photoperiod.
Question 9: Which one of the plant growth regulators would you use if you are asked to:
(a) Induce rooting in a twig
(b) Quickly ripen a fruit
(c) Delay leaf senescence
(d) Induce growth in axillary buds
(e) ‘Bolt’ a rosette plant
(f) Induce immediate stomatal closure in leaves.
Answer:
(a) Induce rooting in a twig – Auxins
(b) Quickly ripen a fruit – Ethylene
(c) Delay leaf senescence – Cytokinins
(d) Induce growth in axillary buds – Cytokinins
(e) ‘Bolt’ a rosette plant – Gibberellic acid
(f) Induce immediate stomatal closure in leaves – Abscisic acid