What are plant hormones ?

• Plant hormones, also known

as phytohormones are
chemicals that regulate plant
growth.
• In plants, these are produced
by cells in one area of the
plant, such as leaves, stems or
roots and then transported to
a different area of the plant in
order for them to have a
response.
Main Functions of Plant Hormones
All the growth and development activities (such as cell
division, flowering, seed germination, and dormancy)
https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
are
regulated by plant hormones and are the main functions of
plant hormones.
https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
Types of plant hormones
Plant hormones can be classified into five major categories, some of
which are made up of many different chemicals that can vary in structure
from one plant to the next. The classifications is based on chemical
structural similarities and their effects on plant physiology. Each class
has positive as well as inhibitory function and work in cooperation with
each other, interplaying to affect growth regulation.

https://mocomi.com/plant-hormones
Type 1: Abscisic acid https://www.utkarshagro.com/all-about-5-types-of-plant-hormones/
• a growth inhibitor
• is made in droughted roots, droughted leaves and developing seeds and it has the ability to
travel both up and down in a plant stem.
• This is when plants produce a chemical messenger named as ‘abscisic acid’that alerts the
rest of the plant that it is feeling water stressed. When this message is sent, the guard cells
spring to attention and alerts the stomata to close. No more water is then able to exit the
plant and thus it can increase the plant tolerance to water stress.
Abscisic acid
Other functions: inhibit plant metabolism and germination, regulate
abscission and dormancy, help in the maturation and development of seeds,
and induce seeds dormancy.
Uses of Abscisic Acid:
1. Antitranspirant
2. Rooting (Use of abscisic acid promotes rooting in many stem cuttings).
3. A study completed in 2010 at Virginia Tech suggests that ABA might
help people fight various diseases causing inflammation, including
diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis and inflammatory
conditions related to obesity.

https://www.biologydiscussion.com/plant-physiology-2/plant-hormones
homeguides.sfgate.com/uses-of-abscisic-acid-13404784.html
Type 2: Auxins
• The term Auxin is derived from the Greek language whose meaning is
‘to grow’.
• It is a plant growth promoter and was discovered by the biologist
Charles Darwin.
• are produced in the growing tips of shoots and roots.
• Auxin is the only plant hormones where transportation happens in one
direction(moves downwards from its site of production).
• They play an important role in the regulation of plant growth.
 Phototropism
• Phototropic movement (bending towards light) can be explained by cell elongation due to
auxins.
• Auxin concentration increases towards the shaded side due to auxin migration.
• It results in more cell elongation at the shaded side than the side exposed to light.
• That will cause the plant to bend to one side – toward the sun.

https://untamedscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/how-phototropism-works.jpg
Geotropism
• In a root placed horizontally, the bottom side contains more auxin and grows less
- causing the root to grow in the direction of the force of gravity.
• The opposite happens in a stem. When a stem placed horizontally, the bottom
side contains more auxin and grows more - causing the stem to grow upwards
against the force of gravity.

gravitropism https://bam.files.bbci.co.uk/bam/live/content/zw3v97h/medium
 Plants responses to gravity:
• when the stem grows against
the force of gravity, this is
known as a negative
geotropism
• when a root grows in the
https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
direction of the force of
gravity, this is known as a
positive geotropism

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zc6cqhv/revision/2
Applications of auxin
• It is used as a herbicide for destroying weeds.
• It is used to induce rooting on stem cuttings.
• It induces flowering in flowering plants.
• It causes premature fall of fruits in some plants.

https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones

byjus.com/question-answer/what-are-the-commercial-uses-of-auxin/
Type 3: Gibberellin
• Gibberellins are a group of plant
hormones responsible for promoting
and regulating growth and
development.
• Chemically speaking, gibberellins
are actually acids.
• They are made in the plastids of
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plant cells, which are the double
membrane-bound organelles
responsible for food production.
• Gibberellin then moves up to the
cell's endoplasmic reticulum, where
they are changed and processed for
use.
Fuctions of gibberelin https://biologydictionary.net/gibberellin/

• Seed germination:
As the embryo begins growing, it needs access
to more energy. The embryo releases
gibberellin molecules, which make their way to
the aleurone layer, which surrounds the
endosperm(The endosperm is a large mass of
cells which stores starch, fats,https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
and proteins for
the developing embryo). The aleurone layer,
receiving the signal from the gibberellin
molecules, begins producing enzymes to digest
the endosperm and provide nutrients to the
growing embryo.
Stem Elongation and Other Functions
• Gibberellin here encourages the plants to increase
their internode length, or the length between their
leaves.
• At the cellular level, gibberellin is influencing the
balance of proteins. In doing so, it encourages cell
growth and elongation in the stems and between
nodes.
• Also invole in breaking ofhttps://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
dormancy, flowering,
fruiting, and senescence.

Applications of Gibberellins:
1. Elongation of genetically dwarf plants
2. Bolting and flowering in long-day plants
3. Increasing in fruit size. eg. grapes.
 Type 4: Cytokinin
• Cytokinin is involved in cell division and in the making of new plant organs like a shoot
or a root.
• are produced in the roots embryo and endosperms of the seed mostly.
• Normally, cytokinins do not work alone. They work in combination with auxins and
gibberellins. When the cytokinins are added along with auxins in the ratio of 1:1 into
non-meristematic cells– then they start dividing by mitosis. But if either of them is
added alone then cell division does not occur.
https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
• They delay senescence or the ageing process that leads to death of plants, also called
anti-ageing hormones.
• They also help to heal if the plant gets wounded.
• Not only that, cytokinin also builds tolerance to drought stress.
• The auxins stimulate the growth of apical buds and suppress the growth of lateral
buds. But cytokinins stimulate the growth of lateral buds.
Applications of cytokinins
1. Shelf Life:
Application of cytokinins to marketed vegetables can keep them fresh for
several days. Shelf life of cut shoots and flowers is prolonged by
employing the hormones.
2. Resistance:
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Cytokinin application is helpful to plants in developing resistance to
pathogens and extremes of temperature.
3. Tissue Culture:
Cytokinins are essential for tissue culture because besides cell division
they are also involved in morphogenesis.
 Type 5: Ethylene
• It is the only gaseous growth hormone.
• It is produced by almost all the organs but
maximum production occurs in ripening fruits
and senescent leaves.
• High concentration of auxin leads to the
formation of ethylene.
• It can be used both as a https://www.vedantu.com/neet/plant-hormones
plant growth promoter
and plant growth inhibitor.
• they promote sprouting of potato tubers, induce
flowering in the mango tree, break the dormancy
of seeds and buds, facilitate senescence and
abscission of both leaves and flowers and
stimulate the ripening of fruits like tomatoes and
citrus fruits.
Applications of ethylene:
• Ethylene lamps are used for colour development and
ripening of fruits such as banana, mango, apple, etc.
• To manufacture ethylene oxide, polyethylene for plastics,
alcohol, mustard gas, and other organics.
• It induces a feminising effect in plants, i.e. it is used to
increase the number of female flowers in a plant to induce
fruiting.
• Act as sprays to accelerate fruit ripening.

byjus.com/biology/ethylene/
https://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/substance?substanceId=34&catId=24
Thanking you for listening !