Growth Control in Woody Plants

Do Leaves Control Episodic Shoot Growth in Woody Plants?

Developmental mechanisms regulating secondary growth in woody plants.

Secondary growth results in the radial expansion of woody stems, and requires the coordination of tissue patterning, cell differentiation, and the maintenance of meristematic stem cells within the vascular cambium. Advances are being made towards describing molecular mechanisms that regulate these developmental processes, thanks in part to the application of new genetic technologies to forest t...

Phytochrome control of growth cessation and initiation of cold acclimation in selected woody plants.

Short day enhancement of cold acclimation in twigs of Cornus (red-osier dogwood), Weigela, and Pyracantha (firethorn) was studied using dark interruptions with red or with red-far red radiation. Hardiness was estimated by freezing stem tissues to preselected temperatures and evaluating injury electrolytically. Dark-period interruptions with red radiation suppressed cold acclimation in Cornus an...

Nonstructural carbon in woody plants.

Nonstructural carbon (NSC) provides the carbon and energy for plant growth and survival. In woody plants, fundamental questions about NSC remain unresolved: Is NSC storage an active or passive process? Do older NSC reserves remain accessible to the plant? How is NSC depletion related to mortality risk? Herein we review conceptual and mathematical models of NSC dynamics, recent observations and ...

Electrophysiology of Woody Plants

A fundamental property of all living organisms is related to the continuous gathering of environmental information and the expression of physiological responses aimed to optimize its performance under new environmental conditions. In order to keep homeostasis, plants need to continuously gather information about its environment and to react physiologically, in order to synchronize its normal bi...