Chapter: Chemical Coordination in Plants
Q1. What are plant hormones?
Ans: Plant hormones are natural chemicals made by
plants to control their growth and how they react to
the environment.
Q2. Why do plants not have a nervous system like
animals?
Ans: Plants don’t need a nervous system because they
make their own food and don’t need to move or react
quickly.
Q3. What are meristems and why are they important?
Ans: Meristems are special areas in plants where cells
keep dividing to help the plant grow.
Q4. Who first used the term “hormone” and when?
Ans: The word “hormone” was first used by William
Bayliss and Ernest Starling in 1902.
Q5. What does the term “phytohormone” mean?
Ans: The word “phytohormone” means plant hormone.
“Phyto” comes from Greek and means plant.
Q6. What is auxin and who discovered it?
Ans: Auxin is the first plant growth hormone, and it was
named by F.W. Went in 1928.
Q7. What is the main natural auxin found in plants?
Ans: The main natural auxin in plants is called Indole-3-
acetic acid (IAA).
Q8. List the functions of auxins.
Ans: 1. Auxins help the stem, root, and fruit grow
longer.
2. They delay ageing in leaves.
3. They make the main (apical) bud grow faster and
side buds grow slower.
4. They help roots grow from plant cuttings.
5. They help in forming fruits without fertilization.
Q9. What is parthenocarpy? Give examples of fruits
where it occurs.
Ans: Parthenocarpy is when fruits grow without
fertilization. It happens in bananas, tomatoes, and
apples.
Q10. What are gibberellins? Name some types.
Ans: Gibberellins are plant hormones that help in
growth. Some types are GA₁, GA₂, GA₃, etc.
Q11. Where are gibberellins mainly found in plants?
Ans: Gibberellins are found in growing parts like shoot
tips, root tips, seeds, and buds.
Q12. List the functions of gibberellins.
Ans: 1. They help stems grow longer.
2. They help seeds break dormancy and start
germinating.
3. They help fruits grow and form without fertilization.
4. They delay ageing.
5. They are used to grow bigger grapes and better-
shaped apples.
Q13. When were cytokinins discovered and by whom?
Ans: Cytokinins were discovered by Skoog and Miller in
the 1950s.
Q14. Where are cytokinins produced in plants?
Ans: Cytokinins are mainly made in root tips and also
found in seeds, fruits, and embryos.
Q15. List the functions of cytokinins.
Ans: 1. They help cells divide and plants grow.
2. They help cotyledons expand in seeds.
3. They help seeds come out of dormancy and
germinate.
4. They make leaves stay green longer.
5. They stop the apical bud from blocking side buds.
Q16. What is unique about ethylene as a plant
hormone?
Ans: Ethylene is special because it is the only plant
hormone that is a gas.
Q17. Who discovered ethylene?
Ans: Ethylene was discovered by R. Gane.
Q18. List the functions of ethylene.
Ans: 1. It slows down stem growth and speeds up
ageing.
2. It ripens fruits.
3. It helps peanut seeds to germinate.
4. It makes potatoes sprout.
5. It helps roots and root hairs grow.
6. It helps mango trees to flower.
Q19. What is abscisic acid (ABA)?
Ans: Abscisic acid is a plant hormone that slows down
growth and helps plants deal with stress.
Q20. Where is ABA primarily found in plants?
Ans: ABA is found in the chloroplasts of leaves and is
also found in high amounts in fruits and seeds.
Q21. List the functions of abscisic acid (ABA).
Ans: 1. It stops or slows plant growth.
2. It stops seeds from germinating too early.
3. It makes leaves, flowers, and fruits fall off.
4. It helps close stomata to save water.
5. It helps plants survive stress, so it's called the “stress
hormone”.
Q22. What are tropic movements in plants?
Ans: Tropic movements are when plant parts grow in a
certain direction because of something outside, like
light or gravity.
Q23. Define phototropism and give an example.
Ans: Phototropism is when a plant part grows towards
or away from light. For example, shoots grow towards
light.
Q24. How do auxins play a role in phototropism?
Ans: Auxins gather on the side away from light and
make that side grow faster, so the plant bends towards
the light.
Q25. What is geotropism? Explain positive and negative
geotropism.
Ans: Geotropism is plant growth in response to gravity.
Roots grow down (positive geotropism), and shoots
grow up (negative geotropism).
Q26. Define hydrotropism and give an example.
Ans: Hydrotropism is when plants grow towards water.
For example, roots grow towards moist soil.
Q27. What is thigmotropism? Give an example.
Ans: Thigmotropism is when plants grow in response to
touch. For example, tendrils coil around sticks or walls.
Q28. Define chemotropism and give an example.
Ans: Chemotropism is when plants grow towards
chemicals. For example, pollen tubes grow towards the
egg in a flower using chemical signals.
Q29. Describe an experiment to demonstrate
phototropism.
Ans: Place a potted plant near a window in a dark
room. After some days, it bends towards the light,
showing phototropism.
Q30. Describe an experiment to demonstrate
geotropism using a clinostat.
Ans: Put one plant flat in a stationary clinostat and one
in a rotating clinostat. The plant in the still clinostat
shows bending due to gravity, while the rotating one
does not.
Q31. Describe an experiment to demonstrate
hydrotropism.
Ans: Place germinating seeds on wire mesh with moist
sawdust below. The roots first grow down due to
gravity but then turn towards the water, showing
hydrotropism.
Q32. Which plant hormone is known as the "stress
hormone"? Why?
Ans: Abscisic acid is called the stress hormone because
it helps plants survive stress like lack of water or too
much salt.
Q33. Which hormone induces parthenocarpy in fruits?
Ans: Auxins and gibberellins can both cause
parthenocarpy (fruit formation without fertilization).
Q34. Which hormone stops apical dominance?
Ans: Cytokinins stop apical dominance and let side
buds grow.
\Q35. Which hormone promotes root growth and root-
hair formation?
Ans: Ethylene helps in the growth of roots and the
formation of root hairs.