Plant development

Article By:

Scanlon, Michael J. Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Douglas, Ryan N. Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Last reviewed:May 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.900115

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• Plant development, published June 2014:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

The regulated growth and differentiation of a multicellular plant. Plant development involves an organized series of physiological processes that are associated with the plant as it progresses through its life cycle. Plant development begins with the fusion of the sperm and egg cell nuclei in an egg cell to form a fertilized zygote. This single-celled zygote then proceeds through many rounds of cell division, pattern formation, and cell specialization to generate the multiple tissue and organ types that comprise the adult plant (Fig. 1). Plant development involves the coordinated regulation of plant hormone (phytohormone) signaling and precise patterns of gene expression in temporal response to both intrinsic and environmental cues. The science of plant development seeks to understand the mechanisms underlying these processes of cell and tissue growth and differentiation. See also: Gene; Plant; Plant growth; Plant hormone; Plant physiology; Plant reproduction

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