The role of gibberellins in plant cell elongation

Abstract

The gibberellins are an ubiquitous class of growth regulators in higher plants. They control various aspects of plant development and are known to be involved in all phases of the developmental cycle of angiosperms. These growth regulators were discovered because of the dramatic effect they exert on stem growth via effects on cell elongation. Gibberellins stimulate cell elongation by altering the rheological properties of the cell wall; as a consequence, the water potential of the cell is lowered allowing for water uptake and therefore an increase in cell volume. The precise mechanism for the change in cell wall properties brought about by the gibberellins is not known; however, we do know that the mechanism is not based on the secretion of protons as it is in the case of auxin‐stimulated growth.