Plant Hormones

Responding to Stimuli…
PAPER 1: 9%

1
2
3
 Plants, like any other living organism, are
able to respond to changes in their
environment.
 They are able to respond to stimuli such
as
 Water
 Sunlight,
 Gravity,
 Chemicals and
 Touch.
 They use hormones (plant growth
regulators) and these hormones affect
how a plant grows, by stimulating plant
cells to divide, enlarge, elongate and to
stop growing. 4
Plant hormones
 Auxin
 Gibberellins
 Abscisic Acid

5
 Auxins
 Are plant hormones / plant growth
substances produced at the tips of roots
and shoots (apical/terminal buds)
 Auxins are the main hormones that cause
plants to grow.
 High concentrations of auxin
 stimulate growth in stems and
 Prevent (inhibit) growth in roots

6
 Main Functions of Auxins

 Apical dominance.
 Growth regulation (responsible for
phototropism and geotropism)

7
Other Functions of Auxins

 Cell division
 Promote root development
 Development of flowers and fruits
 The abscission (dropping of) of leaves
and fruit

8
 Apical dominance
When auxins produced at the tip of the
stem inhibit the growth of the branches
closer to the tip of the stem

9
Apical dominance

 When the stems grow upward, auxins are

produced at the tip of the stem.
 The auxins move downward and inhibit
the growth of the lateral branches.
 Auxins thus promote apical dominance.
 As a result of apical dominance, growth of
the lateral branches closer to the tip of
the stem is inhibited by the auxin
resulting in them being shorter than the
lateral branches lower down the stem.

10
Advantage of
apical
dominance
 This typical “Christmas
tree” shape means that all
branches are better able to
receive sunlight and not to
be shaded by higher
branches.

11
What happens when the tip is
removed?
 Auxins are removed and so the lateral
branches begin to grow – stops apical
dominance
 This is useful in the fruit industry where
plants are kept short with more lateral
branches, result in in more fruit being
produced.
 In addition, fruit is closer to the ground and
therefore easier to pick

12
Removal of apical dominance
by pruning

13
Tropisms
It is a growth movement or bending
reaction in response to an external
stimulus.

 The direction of growth or bending depends

on the direction of the stimulus.
 When this stimulus is
 light = phototropism
 Gravity = geotropism
 Water = hydrotropism
14
 Stems grow towards light; grow
away from gravity
 Roots grow away from light and
grow towards gravity

15
Role of auxins in
phototropism

16
Growth movement of plant
organs towards a light stimulus

Phototropism
17
Plants respond to the direction and amount of
light they receive.
• The seedlings on the left grew toward the
light it received on only one side =
unilateral light.
• The plant in the center received no light.
• The plant on the right was grown in
normal, all-around light
18
19
20
 Advantage Of
Phototropism's
 Favourable position for leaves to receive
sunlight needed for photosynthesis.
 Allows easy pollination of flowers
 Allows easier seed dispersal.

21
22
23
Activity slide 23
1 a) Absence / presence of tin foil
b) Shoot growth
2. Decide on
Duration of the investigation
The plant species to use
The method of recording the results
The apparatus to use
3. Since tip of shoot B was not covered, the
auxins produced t the tip moved to the
shaded side. This stimulated cell elongation
on the shaded side. The shaded side grew
faster and bent towards the light source.
24
4. By using the same plant species; by
placing the shoots the same distance
from the lamp; by ensuring that he
shoots were both exposed to unilateral
light; by ensuring that both shoots were
exposed to light for the same length of
time.
5. Repeating the investigation; increasing
the number of shoots used for each
setup; increasing the period of the
investigation

25
The Went Experiments

A B C D E

26
A & B: The control
 In A: The tip is removed - no auxins
produced
 In B: Tip is removed but agar block
doesn’t contain any auxins
 Therefore no growth will take place
 A control is important because then we
know the results (B – E) is because of
auxins and nothing else (like the agar
block).

27
C: Agar block with auxins are
placed on top of the cut of stem
in the middle
 Auxins from agar block diffuse into the
tip of the stem
 Auxins move down the stem evenly
 This even distribution of auxins brings
about equal growth on all side of the
stem
 Stem grows vertically upwards

28
 D: Agar block placed more to
the right

 Auxins from the agar block diffuse into the

right side of the stem.
 This higher concentration of agar on the
right side stimulates growth on the right
side
 More growth occurs on the right side
 Therefore the stem grows/bends towards
the left

29
D: Agar block placed more to
the left

 Auxins from the agar block diffuse into

the left side of the stem.
 This higher concentration of agar on the
left side stimulates growth on the left
side
 More growth occurs on the left side
 Therefore the stem grows/bends
towards the right

30
Auxins are more concentrated on side away from
sun (lower side); therefore growth on the bottom
will be faster than on top – stem grow towards
the light stimuli = positively phototropic.

31
Geotropism

The growth
movement of a
plant in response
to gravity

32
Role of Auxins in Geotropism
(roots)
 Auxins are produced at the tip of the root
from where they move upwards evenly.
 This even distribution bring about equal
growth on all sides – root grows straight
downwards towards gravity
 (Roots are positively geotropic)!

33
 When a pot plant is placed on its side and
left to grow in a dark environment without
any light, the stem will grow upwards and
the roots will grow downwards.

34
When the pot plant is
upright…
 Auxins are produced at the tip of the
roots and moves upwards evenly.
 The even distribution brings about equal
growth on all sides of the root.
 As a result the root grows downward.

35
When the pot plant is
horizontally
 The auxin concentration will be high on
the lower side of the root because auxins
are pulled down by gravity
 More growth occurs on the upper side of
the root because a high concentration of
auxins on the lower side inhibit growth
in roots
 As a result the root bend downwards

36
 Geotropism also
occurs in
germinating seeds,
where the
emerging young
root starts to grow
downward in
response to
gravity.
 Therefore no
matter which way
the seeds lands on
the ground, the
roots will always
grow downwards
and the shot will
always grow
upward
37
Geotropism in germinating
seeds

38
 Auxins are pulled down by gravity.
 As a result, the shoot and root both have
a high concentration of auxins on the
lower side.
 However, the effect of high
concentrations of auxin on young roots
and shoots is different.

39
  In the shoot high auxin
concentration promotes cell
elongation on the lower side.
Geotropism The shoot thus bends and
in the shoot grows upwards. It is
negatively geotropic

40
  The lower part has a higher
auxin concentration than the
upper part.
 The lower part with more
auxins is inhibited and does
Geotropism not grow fast.
in the  The upper part with no auxins
young roots grows faster
 The root then grows
downwards towards gravity
 (Roots are positively
geotropic).
41
42
 Advantage of
geotropism

 Roots are able to

grow deep into
the soil where
water and
minerals are
absorbed
 Helps anchor the
plant in place

43
44
45
Experiments using a
clinostat

Clinostat: an apparatus
consisting of a slowly
revolving disk by means of
which the action of
external agents (as light
and gravity) on the
movements of growing
plants mounted on the
disk may be modified or
eliminated by the change
of direction. 46
Experiment to illustrate
geotropism using a clinostat
47
 A B

1. What is the aim of this experiment?

2. What is the function of the clinostat?
3. Which of these experiments are the control?
Explain.
4. Why do we need to set up the control?
5. Explain the results in B.

edit 48
1. To illustrate phototropism / to see if stems
grow toward or away from light
2. To cancel the unilateral light
3. A – factor you are testing for is absent.
4. To make sure the results are because of the
factor testing for and nothing else – which
increases validity.
5. Because of unilateral light – which destroy
auxins on that side, more auxins move
downwards on the dark side.
This higher auxin concentration causes
rapid growth and cell elongation on
the shaded side, resulting in the curve
towards light. Therefore stems are
positively phototropic.
49
 A A B
B

1. What is the aim of this experiment?

2. What is the function of the clinostat?
3. Which of these experiments are the control?
4. Why do we need to set up the control?
5. Explain the results in the B.

50
1. To illustrate theA effect of gravity on stems/ to
illustrate geotropism / to see if stems grow away or
towards gravity.
2. To cancel the effect of gravity
3. A
4. To ensure that results are because of factor testing
for and nothing else / increase validity.
5. Auxins are produced by the tip of the stem . Due to
gravitational stimulus, auxins move downward
towards gravity. Therefore there is greater growth
on the bottom side of the stem and the stem bends
upward, away from gravity. Stems are negatively
geotropic.

51
 Functions of Gibberellins
 Increases fruit size
 Stimulate the germination of seeds, flowering
and fruit development.
 Bring about the elongation of the internodes of
stems -

And therefore the distance between grape

bunches – this increased spaces between the
grapes increase air circulation, and this reduces
infection by pathogenic micro-organisms.
52
Use of gibberellins

The bunch on the left is an untreated control. The bunch on the right was
sprayed with gibberellins during fruit development.

53
Application of Gibberellins cause cell elongation

54
 Abscisic acid
 Accelerate shedding of leaves and fruit.
 Brings about dormancy of seeds and apical buds ( in unfavourable
conditions)
 Helps in the closing of stomata during periods of water shortage or
drought.

55
Advantage of dormancy for
plants
 Stops seeds from germinating during the wrong
season/climatic conditions and allows trees/plants to
survive times of drought or water scarcity, as well as
times of extreme cold, by slowing down their
metabolism.

56
 In some desert plants for example, only heavy
showers or rain will lead to germination of
their dormant seeds.
 There is a high concentration of abscisic acid in
seed coats.
 Because abscissic acid is very soluble in water, it
becomes dilute with the heavy showers, allowing
germination to take place.

57
Weed Control By Using
Growth Hormones

58
Controlling weeds

 Weeds are unwanted plants that grow in an area and

compete with the other plants for space, nutrients,
water and light. By doing this, weeds cause a decrease
in crop productivity and yield (how much fruit a tree
bears)
 Herbicides can be sprayed over crops or gardens to kill
the unwanted weeds – but these chemicals are often
toxic to humans and some plants.

59
 Different plant species are sensitive to different levels of certain
hormones, so weed killing can be a selective process.
 Most weeds have broad leaves and many cereal crops, such as maize and
wheat, have narrow leaves.
 Therefore, if a plant hormone that only affects broad-leaved plants is
used, the weeds will be killed and the narrow-leaved commercial crops
will survive.

60
 Some synthetic herbicides (weed killers) contain high
concentrations of auxins that accelerate the
metabolism of broad-leaved dicotyledonous weeds
and therefore stimulate growth.
 These weeds grow so fast that their water absorption
and food production are insufficient.
 The plants weaken and die.

61
 Farmers can therefore successfully destroy dicotyledonous weeds
growing among narrow-leaved monocotyledonous crops (such as
wheat, corn and oats), because the narrow-leaved crops are not
harmed by the herbicides. (Much higher concentrations of auxins are
needed to kill monocotyledons)

62
PLANT DEFENCE
MECHANISMS

63
Thorns: natural mechanical
defence
Thorns discourage herbivores from feeding on
them.
❑ Thismay slow down the feeding rate of
herbivores and wear down their molars over
time.
❑ Some thorns contain irritants or poisons that
further deter herbivores or even poison
them.

64
Chemical defence mechanisms
These chemicals
 can act as repellents,
 are poisonous,
 influence the digestibility of plant material.

 Sticky secretions make it difficult for insects and animals to eat the
plants.

65
Chemical defence mechanisms
 Alkaloids
 influence the animal’s metabolism as well as conduction of nerve impulses and
can even cause death.
 Terpenoids
 destroy the herbivore’s red blood cells
 Phenols (tannin, lignin and silica)
 have antiseptic qualities and disrupt endocrine activity.
 Tannin has a bitter taste and inhibits the digestion and absorption of proteins
 Lignin and silica are indigestible by animals and they eventually wear down the
mandibles of insects.

66
Complete the question bank: plant
hormones

67