Thigmotropism

Thigmotropism

Thigmotropism is a movement in which an organism moves or grows in response to touch or contact stimuli. The prefix "thigmo-" comes from the Greek for "touch". Usually thigmotropism occurs when plants grow around a surface, such as a wall, pot, or trellis. Climbing plants, such as vines, contain tendrils that coil around supporting objects. Touched cells produce auxin and transport it to untouched cells. Some untouched cells will then elongate faster so growth bends around the object. Some seedlings also inhibit triple response, caused by pulses of ethylene which cause the stem to thicken (grow slower and stronger) and curve to start growing horizontally.

Mimosa pudica is well known for its rapid plant movement. The leaves close up and droop when touched. However, this is not a form of tropism but a nastic movement, a similar phenomenon. The difference is that tropisms are influenced by the direction of their stimulus, while nastic movements are not.

External links

* [http://biology.kenyon.edu/edwards/project/steffan/b45sv.htm Thigmotropism in Tendrils]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • thigmotropism — 1900, from thigmo , comb. form meaning touch, from Gk. thigma touch + TROPISM (Cf. tropism) …   Etymology dictionary

  • thigmotropism — [thig mä′trə piz΄əm] n. [ModL: see THIGMOTAXIS & TROPISM] STEREOTROPISM thigmotropic [thigmə träp′ik] adj …   English World dictionary

  • thigmotropism — noun Etymology: Greek thigma + International Scientific Vocabulary o + tropism Date: 1899 a tropism in which contact especially with a solid or a rigid surface is the orienting factor …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • thigmotropism — n. [Gr. thigma, touch; tropos, turn] Tropism in which direction is determined by contact with a solid body; stereotropism …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • thigmotropism — Tendency of an organism or part of an organism to turn towards or respond to a mechanical stimulus …   Dictionary of molecular biology

  • thigmotropism — thigmotropic /thig meuh trop ik, troh pik/, adj. /thig mo treuh piz euhm/, n. Biol. oriented growth of an organism in response to mechanical contact, as a plant tendril coiling around a string support. [1895 1900; < Gk thígm(a) touch + o +… …   Universalium

  • thigmotropism — noun Growth or motion in response to touch …   Wiktionary

  • thigmotropism — A movement toward or away from a touch stimulus on the part of a portion of an organism, such as leaves or tendrils. Cf.:thigmotaxis. [G. thigma, touch, + trope, a turning] * * * thig·mot·ro·pism thig mä trə .piz əm n a tropism in which physical… …   Medical dictionary

  • thigmotropism — n. growth in response to mechanical contact (Biology) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • thigmotropism — [ˌθɪgmə(ʊ) trəʊpɪz(ə)m] noun Biology the turning or bending of a plant or other organism in response to a touch stimulus. Derivatives thigmotropic adjective Origin early 20th cent.: from Gk thigma touch + tropism …   English new terms dictionary

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