Chemotropism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Chemotropism is growth of organisms (or parts of organism) such as bacteria and plants, navigated by chemical stimulus from outside of the organism. The response by the plant is termed ‘positive’ if the growth is towards the stimulus or ‘negative’ if the growth is away from the stimulus.
An example of chemotropic movement can be seen during the growth of the pollen tube, where growth is always towards the ovules. It can be also written that conversion of flower into fruit is the example of chemotropism.
Fertilization of flowers by pollen is achieved because the ovary releases chemicals that produce a positive chemotropic response from the developing pollen tube.
An example of positive and negative chemotropism is shown by a plant’s roots; the roots grow towards useful minerals displaying positive chemotropism, and grow away from harmful acids displaying negative chemotropism.
It is different from chemotaxis, the major difference being that chemotropism is related to growth, while chemotaxis is related to locomotion.
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