COORDINATION IN PLANTS
Plants do not have nervous system, muscles and sense organs like the animals. Still, they
can respond and react to various environmental stimuli such as
light,gravity,water,touch,chemicals etc.
Plants show two different types of movements in response to various stimuli.
One type of movements are independent of [Link] movement of leaves of touch-me-
not plant in response to touch.
Other type of movements are dependent on growth eg directional movements of seedling
with root going down and stem coming up.
Both these type of movements are effected by the action of plant hormones( Phyto
hormones).Plants thus posses only chemical coordination.
PLANT MOVEMENTS
Induced plant movements are broadly classified into two types:
1. Tropic movements
2. Nastic movements
Tropic Movements :
a. These are directional movements that occur in response to stimuli such as light, force of
gravity,chemicals,water etc.
b. Directional movements of specific part of a plant revealing growth in response to
external stimuli are called tropic movements or tropism.
c. Tropic movements are very slow. The movement of the plant can be either towards the
stimulus or away from the stimulus.
d. If the movement of the plant part is towards the stimulus, it is termed as positive
tropism.
e. If the movement of the plant part is away from the stimulus, it is termed as negative
tropism.
Types of Tropic Movements or Tropisms :
1. Phototropism : It is the movement of parts of plant in response to direction of light
stimulus. E.g. shoot moves towards the source of light while roots respond by bending
away from it.
2. Geotropism : It is the movement of plant parts in response to gravity. E.g. stem is
negatively geotropic, while roots are positively geotropic.
3. Chemotropism : It is the directional movement of the plant part in response to chemical
stimulus. E.g. Growth of pollen tube towards the ovule during the process of fertilization.
4. Hydrotropism : It is the directional movement of the plant part in response to water
stimulus. E.g. Bending of roots of the plants towards water signifies positive
hydrotropism.
5. Thigmotropism(Response to touch) : There are some plants with weak stem like pea
plant, cucumber which cannot stand upright on their own. The pea plant develops
tendrils which help it climb up other pants or fences. These tendrils are sensitive to
touch. When they come in contact with any support the part of the tendril away from
the support grows faster then the part in contact of the support as a result the tendril
circles around the support and clings to it.
Nastic movements :
These are non directional movements of plant part in response to an external stimulus in
which direction of response is not determined by direction of stimulus.
These occur due to turgor changes. These reveal immediate response to stimulus but do
not involve growth.
Nastic movements include:
1. Seismonastic movements:These are movements of plant parts in response to
mechanical stimuli like touch etc, e.g. folding of leaflets of the leaves of touch-me-not
plant (Mimosa pudica) or lajwanti or [Link] no growth is
[Link],plant cells change shape by changing the amount of water in
them(turgor changes) resulting in folding up and drooping of leaves.
2. Photonastic movements:The non directional movements of plant parts such as petals
of flowers in response to intensity of light. [Link] dandelion flower and lotus flower
opens up with increasing light intensity and close with decreasing light intensity.
CHEMICAL COORDINATION IN PLANTS : PLANT HORMONES
Plant hormones or phytohormones are naturally occurring organic chemical substances
present in plants in minute quantities, which bring about control and coordination of
various activities in them. Plant hormones are also known as plant growth substances or
plant growth regulators.
Following are five major types of phytohormones which are involve in the control and
coordination in the plants
[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] Acid(ABA) [Link]
Each Plant hormone performs specific funtions which are given below: