The Hormonal Regulation of Morphogenesis in Mosses

Abstract

Spore germination, chloronema formation, caulonema formation, the effect of auxin and antiauxin, and bud formation and growth in moss protonema development are discussed. At low light intensity (1000 lx), auxins enhanced formation of oblique cell walls in Funaria hygrometrica protonema, whereas at 3000 lx, auxins inhibited growth and oblique cell wall formation. Growth of F. hygrometrica caulonema was temporarily inhibited by p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid (I); cell length was decreased as a function of I concn., but the cell division rate was not changed, so cell length was reduced. Formation and maintenance of caulonemata seemed to depend on endogenous auxin, and auxin apparently regulates the position of the cell wall. Of isolated caulonema cells, the 6th cell of the filament responded most to kinetin treatment and produced the greatest no. of buds. [on SciFinder(R)]