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What Makes a Plant Bend Toward the Light?

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By Susan Berg
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What Makes a Plant Bend Toward the Light?
What Makes a Plant Bend Toward the Light?

Scientific research indicates that a certain class of plant hormones lead to the growth of plants toward a light source.

    Phototropism

  1. The growth of a plant toward a light source is called phototropism.
  2. Postive Phototropism

  3. Positive phototropism refers to plant growth toward a light source.
  4. Negative Phototropism

  5. Negative phototropism refers to plant growth in a direction opposite of a light source.
  6. Explanation

  7. Plants such as grasses typically grow toward a light source because cells on the dark side of the stem grow longer at a quicker rate than the cells on the same side as a light source, due to a skewed distribution of a plant hormone called auxin.
  8. Auxin Definition

  9. The term "auxin" refers to any chemical substance that supports the growth of the coleoptile, which is the sheath that covers a grass seedling shoot. ("Auxin" comes from a Greek word meaning "to increase.")

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