Chapter- 7 Control and Coordination

Learning sheet-2

COORDINATION IN PLANTS

ACTIVITY:
 Fill a glass with water. Cover the neck of the flask with a wire mesh or a thin layer of cotton.
 Keep two or three freshly germinated bean seeds on the wire mesh or the cotton layer.
 Take a cardboard box which is open from one side. Keep the glass in the box in such a manner that the open side
of the box faces light coming from a window.
 After two or three days, you will notice that the shoots bend towards light and roots away from light.
 Now turn the glass so that the shoots are away from light and the roots towards light. Leave it undisturbed in
this condition for a few days.
 Have the old parts of the shoot and root changed direction?
 Are there differences in the direction of the new growth?
 What can we conclude from this activity?

Animals have a nervous system for controlling and coordinating the activities of the body. But plants have neither a
nervous system nor muscles. So, how do they respond to stimuli? When we touch the leaves of a chhui-mui (the
‘sensitive’ or ‘touch-me-not’ plant of the Mimosa family), they begin to fold up and droop. When a seed germinates, the
root goes down; the stem comes up into the air. What happens? Firstly, the leaves of the sensitive plant move very
quickly in response to touch. There is no growth involved in this movement. On the other hand, the directional
movement of a seedling is caused by growth. If it is prevented from growing, it will not show any movement. So plants
show two different types of movement – one dependent on growth and the other independent of growth.
Immediate Response to Stimulus:
Since no growth is involved, the plant must actually move its leaves in response to touch. But there is no nervous tissue,
nor any muscle tissue. The plants also use electrical-chemical means to convey this information from cell to cell, but
unlike in animals, there is no specialized tissue in plants for the conduction of information. Instead of the specialized
proteins found in animal muscle cells, plant cells change shape by changing the amount of water in them, resulting in
swelling or shrinking, and therefore in changing shapes.
What is a stimulus?
An event that evokes a specific functional reaction in an organ or tissue is called stimulus.
What is a response?
Reaction of an organism towards a stimulus is called response.
For eg: touching hot object- hotness is a stimulus and removing our hand is a response to hotness.
Dilating of pupil is a response towards more amount of light.
Plant hormones
Control and coordination in plants are carried out by hormones. If, instead of generating an electrical impulse,
stimulated cells release a chemical compound, this compound would diffuse all around the original cell. If other cells
around have the means to detect this compound using special molecules on their surfaces, then they would be able to
recognize information, and even transmit it. This will be slower, of course, but it can potentially reach all cells of the
body, regardless of nervous connections, and it can be done steadily and persistently. These compounds, or hormones
used by multicellular organisms for control and coordination show a great deal of diversity, as we would expect.
Different plant hormones help to coordinate growth, development and responses to the environment. They are
synthesized at places away from where they act and simply diffuse to the area of action.

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You have studied about apical meristem and how cells continuously divide in the meristem tissues in plants.
Do you think the growth in no of cell is related to the presence of hormones?
Watch this video to know more.
  Let us take an example when growing plants detect light, a hormone called auxin, synthesized at the shoot tip,
helps the cells to grow longer. When light is coming from one side of the plant, auxin diffuses towards the shady
side of the shoot.
 This concentration of auxin stimulates the cells to grow longer on the side of the shoot which is away from light.
Thus, the plant appears to bend towards light.
 Another example of plant hormones are gibberellins which, like auxins, help in the growth of the stem.
 Cytokinins promote cell division, and it is natural then that they are present in greater concentration in areas of
rapid cell division, such as in fruits and seeds.
 These are examples of plant hormones that help in promoting growth. But plants also need signals to stop
growing. Abscisic acid is one example of a hormone which inhibits growth. Its effects include wilting of leaves.

There are two types of movement in plants:

Growth independent movements
 The movements which are not growth related are called nastic movements. These movements occur in
response to environmental stimuli but the direction of response is not dependent on the direction of the
stimulus.
 The movement in the touch-me-not plant is thigmonastic movement (movement in response to touch).

Growth-related movements in plants

 The movements which are growth related are called tropic movements. These movements occur in response to
environmental stimuli and the direction of the response is dependent on the direction of the stimulus.
Examples:
 Phototropic movement (light dependent),
 Geotropic movement (gravity dependent),
 Chemotropic movement (chemical dependent),
 Hydrotropic movement (water dependent) and
 Thigmotropic movement (touch dependent).
Geotropism
Movement of plant parts in response to earth’s gravitational force is known as geotropism.
 Towards gravity – positive geotropism
 Away from gravity – negative geotropism
 Root grows towards gravity and shoot grows away from gravity

Phototropism
Movement of plant parts in response to light is known as phototropism.
 Towards light – positive phototropism
 Away from light – negative phototropism
 Stems move towards light and roots move away from light.

Hydrotropism
Movement of plant parts in response to water or moisture.
 Towards water – positive hydrotropism
 Away from water – negative hydrotropism
 Again, root movement in search of water is positive hydrotropism.
Chemotropism
Movement of plant parts in response to chemical stimuli is known as chemotropism.
 Towards chemical – positive chemotropism
 Away from chemical – negative chemotropism
 The growth of pollen tube towards the ovule is positive chemotropism.

Thigmotropism
Movement of plant parts in response to touch is called as thigmotropism.
 Towards touch – Positive thigmotropism
 Away from touch – negative thigmotropism
 Movement of tendrils around the support is positive thigmotropism.
Answer the following questions:
1. What are plant hormones?
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2. How is the movement of leaves of the sensitive plant different from the movement of a shoot towards light?
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3. Give an example of a plant hormone that promotes growth.
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4. How do auxins promote the growth of a tendril around a support?
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5. Design an experiment to demonstrate hydrotropism.
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6. How does phototropism occur in plants?
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7. Write the role of abscisic acid in plant. Is abscisic acid a promoter or inhibitor of growth?
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8. List some trophic and nastic movements you see in the plants around you.
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