Abstract
IN the higher plants, new cells are formed and new tissues arise by the activity of certain definitely localised and clearly characterised tissues, the meristems. In the Dicotyledon, these are found at the apex of root and shoot, that is, at either end of the growing axis; in addition, two continuous cylinders of meristem, the cork phellogen and vascular cambium, run lengthwise through the axis and contribute to its subsequent increase in girth. Within these meristems proceeds the construction of new protoplasm, with subsequent mitotic division into new cells as nuclear and cytoplasmic substance accumulates. In such a plant, then, the fundamental metabolic synthesis inseparable from growth, with the subsequent multiplication of th# cells of the embryonic tissue, can be visualised as proceeding in strictly localised regions, and the question as to the conditions which promote such growth and division can to some extent be investigated experimentally. Within recent years the meristems have been examined from this point of view. It is clear that if their investigation gives any information as to the condition favouring such a fundamental process as the growth and multiplication of embryonic cells, this information may have very general importance and illuminate a wide range of problems.
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Mechanism of Cell Growth. Nature 114, 258–259 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114258a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114258a0
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