RED LIGHT, AUXIN RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE PHOTOTROPIC RESPONSES OF CORN AND OAT COLEOPTILES

Abstract

Briggs, Winslow R. (Stanford U., Stanford, Calif.) Red light, auxin relationships, and the phototropic responses of corn and oat coleoptiles. Amer. Jour. Bot. 50(2): 196–207. Illus. 1963.— Red light decreases the phototropic sensitivity of corn (Zea mays Burpee ‘Golden Cross Bantam’) and oat (Avena saliva ‘Victory’) coleoptiles. The decrease is reflected by a shift of the curve ploting log dosage vs. response to higher dosages, as described in the literature. In the absence of red light treatment, 1,000 meter‐candle‐seconds (mcs) white light induces first negative curvature in oats and almost no curvature in corn, which appears to lack the mechanism for first negative curvature. Immediately following a 2‐hr red light treatment, the same white light dosage induces almost maximum first positive curvature both in corn and in oat coleoptiles. The increase in curvature obtained reflects the decreased phototropic sensitivity of both plants shown by the dosage‐response curve shift. After red treatment, the effect of red light remains maximal for an hour, decaying to the level of non‐red‐treated plants within another 2 hr. Red light suppresses auxin production by corn coleoptiles. The effect decays after the end of red treatment. Both changes follow time courses parallel to those for the phototropic sensitivity changes. The 1,000 mcs light dosage induces lateral transport of auxin both in red‐treated and untreated corn coleoptiles, despite the lack of curvature of the latter. Red light does not induce a circadian rhythm for the phototropic sensitivity changes in oats, is not effective if administered after phototropic induction, and its effect is probably mediated by phytochrome. The hypothesis, not original with this paper, that red light induces an increase in the amount of pigment mediating second positive curvature most closely accounts for the results obtained. Pertinent literature is discussed.