Cavitation as a mechanism for the biological effects of ultrasound on plant roots

Abstract

The growth rate of roots is reduced by exposure to ultrasound at 10 W/cm2 for 1 min. The reduction is somewhat greater at 1 MHz than at 5 MHz. A hydrostatic pressure of 30 atm reduced, but did not eliminate, the effect of ultrasound on growth. The frequency and pressure dependence taken together with earlier observations support the postulate that a cavitationlike mechanism is at least partly responsible for the action of ultrasound on the growth of these developing plant tissues.