Wednesday, 6 February 2013

How plants sense gravity - a new look at the roles of genetics and the cytoskeleton

Washington DC (SPX) Feb 06, 2013



Gravity affects the ecology and evolution of every living organism. In plants, the general response to gravity is well known: their roots respond positively, growing down, into the soil, and their stems respond negatively, growing upward, to reach the sunlight.

But how do plants sense gravity and how do they direct or signal their cells to grow in response to it? Although botanists ....