Apical dominance in the rhizome of Agropyron repens: the influence of water stress on bud activity

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (23) ◽  
pp. 2747-2754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon I. McIntyre

Experiments conducted under both field and growth-chamber conditions showed that buds on the rhizome of Agropyron repens L. Beauv. could be released from inhibition by a localized reduction of water stress, e.g. by enclosing the rhizomes in moist vermiculite. This response was obtained even at low N levels, a fact which may be due partly to the relatively low N requirement of buds developing as rhizomes as compared with those developing as shoots. The induced growth of the lateral buds was correlated with a reduction or complete inhibition of apical growth of the parent rhizome or with its transition from rhizome to shoot development. Continuous root removal reduced the bud response to high humidity in N-deficient plants but had relatively little effect at a higher N level. In water-stressed rhizomes the apparent increase of bud inhibition with distance from the apex, a characteristic feature of apical dominance, was correlated with the water content of the rhizome, which was greatest at the apex and decreased basipetally. It is postulated that this gradient of decreasing rhizome water content may be causally related to the increasing inhibition of bud activity.

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 1427-1432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon I. McIntyre

A previous investigation of apical dominance in the rhizome of Agropyron repens showed that keeping the rhizome in a high humidity promoted the outgrowth of the lateral buds but strongly inhibited the growth of the rhizome apex. A study of these related responses demonstrated that the inhibition of apical growth was not prevented by excision of the lateral buds and was also induced when only the apex of the rhizome received the high humidity treatment. The necrotic lesions that developed in the arrested apices and the reduction of apical inhibition produced by various Ca treatments indicated that the inhibition of apical growth was caused by Ca deficiency. When the rhizome apex was exposed to low humidity, a localized high-humidity treatment of the lateral buds did not release the buds from apical dominance in low-N rhizomes but strongly promoted bud growth at a higher N level. When growth of the buds was induced at low humidity by increasing the N supply, the increase in bud weight was preceded by an increase in the water content of the bud when expressed on a dry weight basis. These results agree with those of previous investigations and suggest that the interacting effects of N and humidity on the water status of the buds may play a significant role in the mechanism of apical dominance.


1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1189-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon I. McIntyre

When plants of Agropyron repens L. Beauv. are grown at a high nitrogen level (210 p.p.m. N) apical dominance in the rhizome is sufficiently reduced to permit the continued growth of the lateral buds. If, however, the rhizome is isolated from the parent shoot the dominance of the apex is markedly increased and lateral bud growth is strongly inhibited.Experiments with these isolated, high-nitrogen rhizomes showed that apical dominance could be significantly reduced either by increasing the length of the rhizome or by retarding the growth of the rhizome apex by exposing it to light. The growth potential of the lateral buds declined rapidly as the duration of their attachment to the rhizome apex was increased. This effect was associated with the translocation of carbohydrate to the rhizome apex and could be overcome by providing the isolated buds with a 2% sucrose solution. When buds were isolated from the rhizome apex before their growth potential was exhausted a marked increase in their carbohydrate content was apparent after 48 h. This increase was associated with their resumption of growth. Buds still attached to the apex could be released from inhibition by supplying sucrose solutions to the cut end of the rhizome.The results suggest that, under the experimental conditions, apical dominance was due primarily to competition for a limited carbohydrate supply.


1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1229-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Qureshi ◽  
G. I. McIntyre

When the buds on the rhizome of Agropyron repens were released from apical dominance either by increasing the nitrogen supply or by raising the humidity around the rhizome, their uptake of 14C-labelled assimilates from the parent shoot was significantly increased. While this effect was produced by each treatment when applied separately, the uptake of 14C by the buds was more than twice as great when both treatments were combined. The 14C level in the rhizome was also increased, this effect being greater and more consistent in response to the change in humidity than to the increased nitrogen supply. In the controls, uptake of the labelled assimilates was greatest by the bud at the apical node and decreased basipetally along the rhizome. This pattern was not correlated with bud size and probably resulted from a basipetal gradient of declining metabolic activity. Increasing the humidity around the rhizome altered this pattern, preferentially promoting the uptake of the label by the bud at the subapical node. To account for the stimulation of bud growth by high humidity when nitrogen was apparently the limiting factor, it is postulated that the increase in water potential of the bud may accelerate protein synthesis, thereby enhancing the bud's capacity to compete for the limiting nitrogen supply.


1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Sobrado ◽  
NC Turner

The effects of water deficits on the water relations characteristics and yield of two cultivated Helianthus annuus L. lines, Hysun 31 and Seneca, and two wild Helianthus species, H. nuttallii and H. petiolaris, were compared. The study was conducted on frequently irrigated and unirrigated plants growing in the field during the summer. Predawn measurements of leaf water potential and relative water content showed that, in the uninigated plants, water deficits increased in all species during the first month after sowing (period I), were relieved by rain in the second month (period II), and then increased progressively in the final month (period III). The osmotic potential at full turgor of unirrigated plants, estimated by pressure-volume curves, decreased by 0.12-0.22 MPa during periods I and III in the cultivated sunflowers, but did not decrease significantly in the wild sunflowers. Except in the irrigated Hysun 31 and Seneca during period I, the apoplastic water content was about 20% in all species and treatments. During period I, the turgid weight: dry weight ratio decreased significantly with water stress, particularly in the cultivated sunflowers; the changes were less marked in the wild sunflowers and during period III. Additionally, the turgid weight: dry weight ratio in the imgated cultivated sunflowers decreased throughout the season. The volumetric modulus of elasticity was similar among species and did not change with water stress or plant age. Dry matter accumulation was smaller in the wild species than in the cultivated lines; water stress reduced shoot dry matter similarly in all species. However, water deficits significantly reduced the seed yield only in Hysun 31 and Seneca.


1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon I. McIntyre

A study of apical dominance in isolated rhizomes of Agropyron repens L. Beauv. showed that increasing the length of the rhizome significantly reduced the degree of dominance only in rhizomes from plants grown at a high nitrogen level (210 ppm). Exposing the rhizomes to light also reduced dominance more effectively in high-nitrogen rhizomes but the response of rhizomes from low-nitrogen plants was greatly increased by supplying water through the end of the rhizome. Further experiments with low-nitrogen rhizomes showed that buds could be released from apical dominance by treatment with kinetin. When isolated from the plant the buds showed a significant increase in length after 24 h and an associated increase in moisture and insoluble nitrogen content. Soluble nitrogen and carbohydrate increased concurrently during the next 24 h. Rhizomes kept in darkness showed a small reduction of bud inhibition when water was supplied through the cut end; NH4NO3 solution had a greater effect, while solutions in which both nitrogen and carbohydrate (as sucrose) were supplied resulted in the almost complete elimination of apical dominance.The results suggest that apical dominance in isolated, low-nitrogen rhizomes was due mainly to competition between the apex and the lateral buds for water, nitrogen, and carbohydrate.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald F. Schoeneweiss

A simple, inexpensive humidity cabinet is described which can be assembled inside a standard walk-in growth chamber. When container-grown tree or shrub seedlings were placed in the cabinet and held under complete darkness, high humidity, and constant temperature, xylem water potentials were at or near equilibrium after 2 days and remained relatively constant throughout a subsequent 7-day incubation period. Rapid, reproducible measurements of xylem water potentials of leaves and (or) shoots were made with a pressure bomb, leaving plants basically intact for studies on the influence of water stress on disease susceptibility.


Weed Science ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon I. McIntyre ◽  
Andrew I. Hsiao

When buds on the rhizome of quackgrass [Agropyron repens(L.) Beauv.] were released from apical dominance either by increasing the nitrogen supply to the parent shoot (from 5.25 to 210 ppm) or by raising the humidity around the rhizome (from 55 to 100%), the growth response of the buds was closely correlated with their uptake of foliar-applied14C-labeled glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl] glycine]. The14C level in the buds, expressed on a dry-weight basis, was greatest in the youngest, most rapidly growing bud at the apical node and decreased in successively older buds along the rhizome. A similar gradient was shown by the14C content of the associated rhizome nodes. The high-humidity treatment also increased the total amount of14C that was translocated into the rhizome, whereas increasing the nitrogen supply, while promoting14C uptake by the buds, markedly reduced the amount in the rhizome nodes and in other parts of the plant. This nitrogen-induced reduction in translocation was associated with a reduction of about 30% in uptake of the herbicide by the treated leaves.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 368
Author(s):  
Hongkyu Yoon ◽  
Albert J. Valocchi ◽  
Charles J. Werth

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