What Do Suburban Lawns and the Vietnam War Have in Common?
Answer: The herbicide 2,4-D.
You may be familiar with this herbicide as an active ingredient in “Weed ‘n Feed®”, “Weed B Gon MAX®”, Turf Builder® With Weed Control”, etc..
During the Vietnam War, it was an active ingredient in Agent Orange.
On lawns it’s used [...]
Archive for the ‘Plant Hormones’ Category
Why Herbicides Kill Plants (But Not You)
Posted in Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, Gardening, Nature, plants, science on April 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Photosynthesis and Global “Weirding” – How Heat and Drought Affect Photosynthesis (part 2)
Posted in CO2, Photosynthesis, Plant Hormones, Plant Stress, tagged botany, global warming, plants, science on February 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
As previously mentioned….if most climatologists are correct, then parts of the Earth’s surface may experience increasing episodes of heat and drought as a result of global “weirding”. (see here for a current example)
Some of the effects of heat on photosynthesis was considered in part 1 of this post.
But what about drought (a.k.a., long term water [...]
How a Plant Growth Hormone Predicted by Darwin Shapes Plants
Posted in Plant Development, Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, Darwin, plants, science on December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Power of Movement in Plants
Most of a flowering plant’s development and physiology is regulated by plant hormones.
The first of these chemical signals to be isolated and characterized was auxin.
In the 1930’s, after the initial discovery of auxin by Frits Went in 1928, he, Kenneth Thimann, and Folke Skoog showed that, in addition [...]
Plant “Gibberish” – Hormone (Gibberellin) May Play Critical Roles in Plant Response to Climate Change
Posted in Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, climate change, ecology, plants, science on December 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
What do a fungal disease of rice, dwarf plants, flowering, and beer have in common?
Answer: They all may involve the action of the plant hormone gibberellin, a.k.a. gibberellic acid (GA).
Let me explain…..
This plant hormone was first discovered by Japanese scientists working on a rice disease called bakanae caused by the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi. (And now [...]
The Falling of Autumn Leaves – A Biological Separation Process Triggered by a Gaseous Plant Hormone
Posted in Plant Hormones, Senescence (Aging), tagged agriculture, Biofuels, botany, plants, science on October 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Much can be found online about why leaves change colors in the fall…
…but relatively little about the final part of the story, namely leaf drop.
Components of this terminal process, called leaf abscission, are actually put into place at the beginning of the leaf’s life. At the end, a chemical signal from the leaf itself triggers [...]
New Plant Hormones Discovered?
Posted in Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, horticulture, plants, science on September 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
What if the roots of flowering plants produced chemical signals that regulated the branching of their shoots?
Chemical signals used by plants to regulate their development and physiology are called plant hormones. Very small amounts of these compounds, acting alone or in tandem, often elicit dramatic effects on plant development. For many years there were only [...]
