Gravitational effects on plant growth hormone concentration

Possible effects of organelle charge and density on cell metabolism

To respond to gravity a biological system must: First, perceive the stimulus; and, second transduce the stimulus into an appropriate response. This laboratory has studied a system of perception and transduction involving the gravity-induced asymmetric distribution of a plant growth hormone. From these studies we have developed a working theory which states as its postulates that: a) The perception of the gravitational stimulus involved a perturbation of the plant's bio-electric field; and b) that the transduction of the stimulus involved voltage-gating of hormone movement from the plant's vascular tissue into the hormone responsive growing tissue. These studies may provide the simplest system for studying [correction of studing] the mechanism whereby the gravity signal is translated into a biological response.