Block 7: Plant Growth and Development

Introduction

Growth is an irreversible increase in size (length, volume, mass, dry weight). Development is the coordinated sequence of cell divisions, growth, and differentiations leading to the formation of new organs and tissues.

During development there is a progressive change toward a more specialized (different) state.

In this block the orderly progression from zygote to seedling of a flowering plant will be discussed.

Learning objectives

At the end of the block, students will be able to:

-      explain the flower development process;

-      describe sexual reproduction in plants;

-      describe the different stages of embryo development in angiosperms;

-      describe morphological changes in seed germination and seedling development ;                                                                                                                                                        

-      discuss regulation of growth and plant development.