Recent studies have revealed important new details of how cytokinin-dependent mechanisms control plant growth. Intriguingly, cytokinins are involved in both maintaining meristems and promoting differentiation.

Plants continuously extend their root and shoot systems through the action of meristems at their growing tips. By regulating which meristems are active, plants adjust their body plans to suit local environmental conditions. The transport network of the phytohormone auxin has been proposed to mediate this systemic growth coordination, due to its self-organising, environmentally sensitive propert...

The regulation of floral organ number is closely associated with floral meristem size. Mutations in the gene FLORAL ORGAN NUMBER1 (FON1) cause enlargement of the floral meristem in Oryza sativa (rice), resulting in an increase in the number of all floral organs. Ectopic floral organs develop in the whorl of each organ and/or in the additional whorls that form. Inner floral organs are more sever...

Different concentrations of N(6)-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and indole acetic acid (IAA) in Murashige and Skoog based medium were assessed for their effects on shoot multiplication, nodule-like meristem proliferation and plant regeneration of the Malaysian banana cultivars Pisang Mas, Pisang Nangka, Pisang Berangan and Pisang Awak. BAP at 1-14 mg L(-1) with or without 0.2 mg L(-1) IAA, or BAP at 7...

Shoot meristems used for the study were exercised from the in vitro regenerated shoots cultured on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L of BAP for multiplication. The sensitivity of the in vitro regenerated was studied using shoot meristems of 0.5 cm. Shoot meristems were cultured on medium containing 10 100 mg/l kanamycin to determine the concentration that was lethal for multiple shoot induct...

The nucleoli in 4 regions of the root meristem of Zea mays have been examined and the time spent in each of the phases of the nucleolar cycle has been calculated from estimates of the rates of mitosis and the fraction of cycling cells in each region. The nucleolar cycles have been fitted to the mitotic cycles of cycling cells in the same regions. The timing of activity of the r-RNA genes differ...