JXB Advance Access originally published online on February 7, 2005
Journal of Experimental Botany 2005 56(413):851-856; doi:10.1093/jxb/eri071
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RESEARCH PAPER |
Phototropic response induced by wind loading in Maritime pine seedlings (Pinus pinaster Aït.)
Laboratoire de Rhéologie du Bois de Bordeaux, Mixed Unit: INRA/CNRS/Université Bordeaux I, Domaine de l'Hermitage, 69 Route d'Arcachon, F-33612 Cestas cedex, France
* Present address and to whom correspondence should be sent: Forestry Commission, NRS, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9SY, UK. Fax: +33 5 56680713. E-mail: stephane.berthier{at}forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Both woody and herbaceous plant species are known to respond to wind loading, with consequences for growth and morphology. Wind has usually been classified as a mechanical stress which is detrimental to plant growth. Few experiments exist whereby plants and, in particular, woody species are exposed to wind, as opposed to mechanical perturbation by touching, flexing or shaking. Such experiments have always been short term and often carried out in wind tunnels in a controlled greenhouse environment. This study introduces an experiment to test the responses of Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aït.) seedlings to recurrent and short wind loading in the field, over two growing seasons. These experiments provide evidence that periodic short-term exposure to wind can induce phototropic responses in the early stage of pine seedlings' development. An interpretation is proposed in terms of efficiency to light tracking and hypotheses are discussed concerning the underlying physiological process.
Key words: Calcium, gravitropism, mechanical strain, phototropism, thigmomorphogenesis
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