THE ROLE OF LIGHT IN HISTOGENESIS AND DIFFERENTIATION IN THE SHOOT OF PISUM SATIVUM. III. THE INTERNODE

Abstract
Thomson, Betty F., and Pauline Monz Miller. (Connecticut Coll., New London.) The role of light in histogenesis and differentiation in the shoot of Pisum sativum. III. The internode. Amer. Jour. Bot. 50(3): 219–227. Illus. 1963.—Seedlings of Pisum sativum were grown under constant conditions and exposed daily to red or white fluorescent light or kept in total darkness. Counts and measurements of internodal cells in both transverse and longitudinal directions show that light does not alter the sequence or pattern of tissue differentiation, including the sequence of xylem maturation within the vascular bundle. Light does accelerate the rate of a constant course of differentiation. Light advances the time of division and enlargement of cortex, xylem, phloem, and pith cells in the longitudinal direction but reduces both the final number and the final length attained in all cases. It is concluded that light accelerates all phases of shoot growth and differentiation and that cell division and elongation in the later phases of internodal growth are reduced by light because of accelerated cell maturation.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation