Influence of indole-3-acetic acid on adventitious root primordia of brittle willow

Removal of the stem apex and certain leaves and axillary buds of brittle willows (Salix fragilis) was employed to limit the supply of endogenous auxin to adventitious root primordia during their formation, which occurs at predetermined sites. Limiting endogenous auxin by this surgical treatment resulted in reduced primordium initiation and, to a lesser degree, primordium growth in cell number. Root primordium cells in surgically treated plants differentiated into mature parenchyma after losing their meristematic character. Application of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to surgically treated plants partially overcame the effects of the surgical tretament, increasing root primordium initiation and growth by cell division. When IAA-2-(14)C was applied to surgically treated plants, label was detected in root primordium cells by means of autoradiography. Root primordium cells took up more label during the earliest stage of initiation than during a later stage of growth. The data indicate that the initiation of these primordia is more dependent on a supply of auxin than is their subsequent development. Further, the auxin apparently acts directly in the cells which initiate primordia.