This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Parks, B. M. Articles by Poff, K. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Parks, B. M. Articles by Poff, K. L. Agricola Articles by Parks, B. M. Articles by Poff, K. L.

Articles

Altering the Axial Light Gradient Affects Photomorphogenesis in Emerging Seedlings of Zea mays L. ¹

MSU/DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1312

The axial (longitudinal) red-light gradient (632 nanometers) of 4 day old dark-grown maize seedlings is increased by staining the peripheral cells of the coleoptile. The magnitude of increase in the light gradient is dependent solely on the light-absorbing qualities of the stain used. Metanil yellow has no effect on the axial red-light gradient, while methylene blue causes a large increase in this light gradient. These stains did not affect growth in darkness or the sensitivity of mesocotyl elongation to red light. However, mesocotyl elongation was altered for the dark-grown seedlings stained with methylene blue when these seedlings were transplanted, covered with soil, and permitted to emerge under natural lighting conditions. These observations are consistent with the idea that there is a single perceptive site below the coleoptilar node, and suggest that this perceptive site receives the actinic light which has traveled downward through the length of the shoot from an entry point in the plant tip region.

¹ Supported in part by United States Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC02-76ERO-1338, and a grant from the Shell Development Company to K. L. P.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Jiao, L. Ma, E. Strickland, and X. W. Deng Conservation and Divergence of Light-Regulated Genome Expression Patterns during Seedling Development in Rice and Arabidopsis PLANT CELL, December 1, 2005; 17(12): 3239 - 3256. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. Sun, K. Yoda, and H. Suzuki Internal axial light conduction in the stems and roots of herbaceous plants J. Exp. Bot., January 1, 2005; 56(409): 191 - 203. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. Sun, K. Yoda, M. Suzuki, and H. Suzuki Vascular tissue in the stem and roots of woody plants can conduct light J. Exp. Bot., June 1, 2003; 54(387): 1627 - 1635. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]