Plant Hormones

Topic Content:

Plant hormones, also known as phytohormones , are chemical compounds that regulate various aspects of plant growth, development, and responses to environmental stimuli such as light, temperature, gravity and touch.

They play crucial roles in processes such as cell division, elongation, flowering, fruiting, and stress responses. The responses of plant hormones are usually much slower than most animals.  This is because responses in plants are mainly brought about by growth.

Major Types of Plant Hormones (Functions and Applications):

The five major groups of plant hormones — auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene, and abscisic — acid are distinguished by their chemical structures and the response they evoke within the plant.

1. Auxins:

The most important naturally occurring auxin found in plants is indoleacetic acid (IAA). They are found in growing apices of roots and shoots and then migrate to other parts to act. They travel short distances by diffusion and longer distances through the phloemPhloem is a plant vascular tissue that conducts foods made in the leaves during photosynthesis, downwards to all other parts of the plant. More.

Functions:

• Promotes cell elongation of stems and roots: This enables upward growth of stem towards light sources (positive phototropism) and roots away from light (negative phototropism). It also causes the response of the