ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL OF BUD AND RHIZOME DEVELOPMENT IN THE SEEDLING OF AGROPYRON REPENS L. BEAUV.

Abstract

The effects of various environmental conditions on bud development in seedlings of Agropyron repens L. Beauv. were investigated. The bud in the axil of leaf 1 was the most responsive. At a high nitrogen level (315 p.p.m.) most of the buds at this position developed as tillers, and at a low level (2.1 p.p.m.) as rhizomes. A transition from rhizome to shoot development was induced by increasing the nitrogen supply after the rhizomes were initiated. Temperature had a similar effect, tillers being produced at a high (day) temperature (27 °C) and rhizomes at a low temperature (10 °C). Reducing the daylength from 18 to 9 h strongly promoted tillering and almost completely prevented rhizome development. A reduction of light intensity from 4000 to 2000 ft-c did not affect bud development but appeared to increase the tendency for rhizomes to form a terminal shoot. Similar effects were shown by the buds at the coleoptile and leaf 2 positions but the inherent tendency for the former to develop as rhizomes and the latter as tillers limited their response.There was some evidence from these results that bud and rhizome development is controlled by a similar mechanism and that the carbohydrate level may be an important factor in determining the inherent pattern of bud development.