Root geotropism and the role of growth regulators from the cap: a re‐examination

Abstract

Abstract. It is widely believed that the root cap participates in geotropism by acting both as a sensor of the direction of gravity and as a source of at least one regulator of root growth, which may be abscisic acid (ABA). It has been suggested that this regulator accumulates within the prospective concave (or lower) half of the root and there causes a retardation of growth that brings about bending. A re‐examination of the evidence upon which this inhibitor hypothesis of geotropic control is based reveals that (1) it is derived almost entirely from microsurgical studies and the deductions from such experiments still require corro‐orations from analyses of inhibitor content and action; (2) the evidence that ABA is the inhibitor seems poor at present; (3) in maize and lentil, two well‐studied species, geocurvature is probably a consequence of accelerated growth within the prospective convex (or upper) half rather than inhibited growth within the concave (or lower) half; (4) the geotropic signal from the cap may be one that redirects a pre‐existing basipetal flow of inhibitor away from the upper