Rice Coleoptile Growth under Water and in Air-Possible Effect of Buoyancy on Growth and Cell Walls

Maximum growth was achieved in rice coleoptiles (Oryza sativa L. cv. Sasanishiki) grown under water; they reached maximum length of 81.2 mm on day 5. The maximum length of coleoptiles grown in air or under water with air bubbling was 12.4 mm and 23.5 mm in day 5,respectively. Differences in coleoptile growth between air bubbling and air conditions, namely approximately 11 mm at day 5,could be due to buoyancy effect under water. Promoted growth under water was due to a decrease in cell wall extensibility. The decrease in cell wall extensibility could be related to the inhibition of the formation of diferulic acid-bridges among arabinoxylans in cell walls under water

Plant Growth and Morphogenesis under Different Gravity Conditions: Relevance to Plant Life in Space

The growth and morphogenesis of plants are entirely dependent on the gravitational acceleration of earth. Under microgravity conditions in space, these processes are greatly modified. Recent space experiments, in combination with ground-based studies, have shown that elongation growth is stimulated and lateral expansion suppressed in various shoot organs and roots under microgravity conditions. Plant organs also show automorphogenesis in space, which consists of altered growth direction and spontaneous curvature in the dorsiventral (back and front) directions. Changes in cell wall properties are responsible for these modifications of growth and morphogenesis under microgravity conditions. Plants live in space with interesting new sizes and forms

An Arabidopsis <i>PTH2</i> Gene Is Responsible for Gravity Resistance Supporting Plant Growth under Different Gravity Conditions

Terrestrial plants respond to and resist gravitational force. The response is termed “gravity resistance”, and centrifugal hypergravity conditions are efficient for investigating its nature and mechanism. A functional screening of Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion lines for the suppression rate of elongation growth of hypocotyls under hypergravity conditions was performed in this study to identify the genes required for gravity resistance. As a result, we identified PEPTIDYL-tRNA HYDROLASE II (PTH2). In the wild type, elongation growth was suppressed by hypergravity, but this did not happen in the pth2 mutant. Lateral growth, dynamics of cortical microtubules, mechanical properties of cell walls, or cell wall thickness were also not affected by hypergravity in the pth2 mutant. In other words, the pth2 mutant did not show any significant hypergravity responses. However, the gravitropic curvature of hypocotyls of the pth2 mutant was almost equal to that of the wild type, indicating that the PTH2 gene is not required for gravitropism. It is suggested by these results that PTH2 is responsible for the critical processes of gravity resistance in Arabidopsis hypocotyls