The correlative inhibition of bud and shoot growth in flax. Anatomical changes associated with the release of lateral buds from inhibition

Abstract

Seedlings of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) were grown in sand culture under controlled conditions and the bud at node 3 was released from apical dominance by increasing the concentration of N in the nutrient solution. Within 24 h of increasing the N supply the number of mitoses per bud had markedly increased and within 48 h the length of the bud was significantly greater than the controls. A distinctive group of cells (the "quiescent center"), characterized by enlarged nuclei with a reduced Feulgen staining reaction, was present at the apex of all inhibited low-N buds but rapidly disappeared when the buds were released from inhibition. Of the buds examined 48 h after the N supply was increased, about 50% had no xylem in the bud trace; the rest had only a single xylem strand and none had established a connection with the stele of the parent stem. Buds examined after 72 h showed a marked increase in the number of xylem strands, but more than 75% of these buds still lacked a complete xylem connection with the vascular tissue of the parent shoot.These results support the hypothesis that the release of lateral buds from apical dominance is not dependent on the prior strengthening of the xylem connections and that associated changes in vascular tissue development are the consequence rather than the cause of the release of the bud from inhibition.