The Mechanism of Apical Dominance in Coleus

The development of lateral buds in isolated stems of Coleus blumei is inhibited by low concentrations of indoleacetic acid or other auxins, just as in other plants. The inhibition can be fully reversed by kinetin, about 3 times as much kinetin as IAA being needed. However, the outgrowth of the same lateral buds on intact Coleus plants is sensitive to environmental conditions, well-nourished plants in full daylight often showing little inhibition by applied auxin. It is shown that (a) the solvent used for IAA, (b) the light intensity and (c) the nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition, all control the sensitivity of the buds to auxin inhibition. Using water instead of lanolin, lowering the light intensity or decreasing the supply of either nitrogen or phosphorus all increase the degree of apical dominance.     

Relative addition rate and external concentration; Driving variables used in plant nutrition research

Abstract An increasing literature accounting for various types of experiments indicates that far lower external nutrient concentrations are required by plants than is usually thought to be the case. It is concluded that the ion uptake capacity of the roots, as described by the carrier concept, is high compared to that required for maintenance of the internal concentration. Serious errors in experimental conclusions are associated with insufficient and constant nutrient addition rates. The main errors are caused by non-steady states of the plants both with regard to the internal nutrient concentrations and the relative growth rate. A dynamic concept has been proposed for direct use as the treatment variable within the range of sub-optimum nutrition. The nutritional factor is expressed as a flow, the relative nutrient addition rate in laboratory studies and the nutrient flux density in the field. The experimental use of the relative addition rate has led to steady-state nutrient status and relative growth rate and the interpretation of plant responses which differ fundamentally from accepted views. Thus, for instance, deficiency symptoms disappear, as in natural conditions, when the internal nitrogen concentration is stable, independent of level. The nutrition/growth relationships are very different from those observed when external concentration is varied. The regression line of relative growth rate on relative addition rate passes near to the origin at an angle close to 45 to the axes, which implies that the obtained relative growth rate approximates closely the treatment variable. A striking example of observed differences is the positive effect on nitrogen fixation exerted by high relative nitrogen addition rates compared to the well-known negative effect of increasing external nitrogen concentration. The application of fertilizer on the basis of the nutrient flux density concept provides the possibility of supplying fertilizers corresponding to the consumption potential of the vegetation and to the natural flux density resulting from mineralization in the soil. Nitrogen utilization is high under such conditions and the resulting feedback of nutrition on the mineralization rate suggests that there will be a long-term increase in fertility.     

The Influence of Shoots, Roots, and Hormones on Sucrose Distribution

The effects of hormones on sucrose distribution were studiedin relation to the control of the relative growth of the shootand the root. The roots and the shoots above the cotyledonsof bean seedlings were removed and the remaining explants allowedto regenerate so that they consisted of growing buds, a segmentof the hypocotyl, and short growing roots. [¹⁴C]Sucrose wasapplied to the middle of the hypocotyl and its distributionwas measured in relation to the presence of the shoots and rootsand to their replacement by auxin and a cytokinin. It was foundthat radioactivity moved towards both the shoot and the root,and that removing one growing region greatly reduced the transportin its direction and increased the relative transport in theopposite direction. Both hormones restored a large part of themovement of radioactive sucrose when they replaced any one ofthe growing regions. However, there was some preferential actionof benzyladenine when it replaced the buds and of auxin whenit replaced the roots. The results indicate that in the intactplant the development of the shoot and the root is correlatedby a positive feedback involving auxin and cytokinins, and themovement of sucrose is controlled indirectly by the sink activityof these growing regions. This control of the movement of sucrose,and presumably other metabolites, accounts for the short-termcompetitive relations between the shoot and the root.     

The Effect of Kinetin on the Occurrence of Acid Auxin in Coleus blumei

Excised shoots and potted plants of Coleus blumei Benth, were subjected to different treatments with kinetin solutions. Control treatments were made with water. Free and bound auxin were extracted with ether. The acid fractions were purified by electrophoresis to remove all traces of kinetin, and were then analyzed with the Avena straight-growth test. As compared with the controls, kinetin treatment increases the bound auxin, whereas the corresponding free auxin is unchanged. Also methanol extracts of treated stems contain more acid auxin than corresponding extracts of water-treated stems. This indicates that on methanol extraction not only free auxin but also some bound auxin is obtained. The extracted auxin behaves like indoleacetic acid in paper chromatography with four different solvent systems, as well as in gel filtration through Sephadex. New formation or decreased breakdown of auxin seem the most likely explanations for the observed effects of kinetin.     

Host control over infection and proliferation of a cheater symbiont

Host control mechanisms are thought to be critical for selecting against cheater mutants in symbiont populations. Here, we provide the first experimental test of a legume host’s ability to constrain the infection and proliferation of a native‐occurring rhizobial cheater. Lotus strigosus hosts were experimentally inoculated with pairs of Bradyrhizobium strains that naturally vary in symbiotic benefit, including a cheater strain that proliferates in the roots of singly infected hosts, yet provides zero growth benefits. Within co‐infected hosts, the cheater exhibited lower infection rates than competing beneficial strains and grew to smaller population sizes within those nodules. In vitro assays revealed that infection‐rate differences among competing strains were not caused by variation in rhizobial growth rate or interstrain toxicity. These results can explain how a rapidly growing cheater symbiont – that exhibits a massive fitness advantage in single infections – can be prevented from sweeping through a beneficial population of symbionts.