9.3 Growth in plants

Meristems

Tissues in plants consisting of undifferentiated cells capable of indeterminate growth.

Apical Meristems

located at the tips of shoots and roots responsible for primary growth (lengthening).

Lateral Meristems

located at the cambium responsible for secondary growth (widening/thickening).

Apical Dominance

The phenomenon where the apical meristems inhibit the growth of axillary buds, promoting vertical growth.

Auxin

A group of plant hormones produced at the shoot tip that regulates growth by promoting cell elongation in shoots and inhibiting it in roots.

Tropisms

Growth or turning movement of a plant in response to a directional external stimulus.

Phototropism

Growth movement of a plant in response to a unidirectional light source.

Geotropism (Gravitropism)

Growth movement of a plant in response to gravitational forces.

Hydrotropism

Growth movement of a plant in response to a water gradient.

Thigmotropism

Growth movement of a plant in response to tactile stimuli.

Micropropagation

A technique to produce a large number of genetically identical plants using tissue from the shoot apex.

Cryopreservation

A technique that uses liquid nitrogen to store plantlets, akin to the function of a seed bank.

Virus-Free Strains

Propagation of plants from non-infected meristems to reproduce virus-free plant strains.

Desirable Stock Plants

Plants cloned via micropropagation to conserve the selected characteristic reliably.

Axillary Buds

Inactive meristematic tissue that has the potential to form new branching shoots.